Another Marine At NCIS
by GagaMidnight
Summary: Elise Bennet joins NCIS but she's had a bad life. Gibbs doesn't help as he's perturbed at having to add her to his team. But soon he realises why Elise calls him sir and the complicated life she's had. Did I mention she also had a history with Tony?
1. Prologue

It was December 20th in Washington D.C and the snow had already come. It lay heavily in the alleyways and side streets. "Damn snow." complained C.I.A Agent Smith as he waded through the white substance.

It was only when he heard the crunching of the ice behind him that he realised he was being followed. He gritted his teeth and continued making his way to his destination - the Blue Fiesta bar.

He knew that when Colonel Mace, know to him as Charles, was following him it meant go somewhere quiet we need to talk.

He sat down and ordered one bourbon and one Scotch. He smirked at the waitresses comment about having to get two different types of Whisky.

The decorated marine made his way to the table. "Nathan Smith. It's been a long time. Perhaps not long enough."

He shook hands with his old friend before sitting down. "How long has it been anyway?" asked Nathan.

"You forgot? Four months."

"I didn't forget by accident. I forgot on purpose."

"Has she still not spoken to you in that time?"

Nathan swallowed. "No. Not at all. She applied to FBI and NCIS. Hopfully one will take her. I don't understand why she left."

"Bennet was always the same. Strong willed. Do what she liked kind of thing."

"Something is up isn't it?" asked Nathan. "Tell me."

"Do you kow why Bennet really quit."

"Well obviously not."

"Bennet quit because she'd no trust. And she was right. Be careful Nathan."

"What do you mean?"

"Bennet. She...Did you know what really happened?"

"What really happened?"

…

In the building across was Carmine Burley held his sniper and pointed to his target as he had a drink with an old friend.

Nothing was going to stop him getting revenge.

He pulled the trigger and let the bullet plough his targets skull.

TBC

A/N I know I took this down but I'm putting it back up. :-) Thanks to SanctuaryLover for making me realize that I still love NCIS by reminding me that I see it wherever I go.


	2. Chapter 1

After listening to Vance rant about new politics and other matters Gibbs just didn't care about he made to leave Vance's office. "Gibbs what do you think you're doing?" asked Vance, with his asserting tone. "You'll take her on your team or I'll give her your team."

Gibbs gave Vance one of his famous stares and walked back over to him. "Are you threatening me, director?"

"I'm telling you Gibbs."

* * *

Tony stared Tom McNair, the Blue Fiesta Bar's owner. "It was...I don't..It happened really fast Agent DiNozzo."

"Special Agent." he corrected through gritted teeth and a wincing fake smile.

"Special Agent then. Poor marine dude got shot and his blood is all over my floor."

"Was there anyone with him?" asked DiNozzo.

"One guy."

"What guy?"

"Well. CCTV up there. Why don't you find out for yourself."

Tony grinned another fake grin. "Thank you very much. You've been very helpful." he told McNair sarcastically.

He turned away and rolled his eyes before walking over to Ziva. "Ziva. Ziva. Ziva. You know I've always thought of you as a wonderful agent, right?"

She glanced at him, with a questioning look. "Really?"

"My dear Mossad Ninja. Of course I have."

"Do you want something Tony?"

"Can you get the CCTV. I can't reach."

"In other words you want to give me a roost."

"No a boost."

"Oh. Don't drop me this time."

"I would never." defended Tony.

McGee smiled politely as he took the waitresses statement. "Did you get the name of the man that was in with Colonel Mace?"

"I've seen him with Mace a few times but he never gives me his name. Just asks for a bourbon. They were talking when the bullet came through. Then he phoned someone."

"Who the guy with Mace?"

"Yeah. He phoned someone then stayed a while. Then he got another phone call half an hour before you guys got here. He left like a bullet out of a gun."

McGee's head shot up from his note pad.

"Oh I didn't mean to be..."

"It's alright." replied McGee politely. "Thank you for your time. If you can think of anything else, just give us a call."

She nodded before turning away and leaving the bar.

"You seen Gibbs?" asked Tony after he helped Ziva down from off his shoulders.

"I'm here DiNozzo. What have we got?" The fearless leader asked.

Tony turned around to face his fearless leader but his attention was brought to the brunette behind Gibbs.

He took in her height, her blue eyes and their sternness. He recognised her. "Elise?" asked Tony.

"That's a really good guess DiNozzo. What we got?" barked Gibbs bringing Tony from his thoughts, which had somehow gone back to his days at Rhode Island Military.

"Colonel Mace. Sniper fire from the building across. Noting so far on CCTV from over there but..."

"Colonel Mace. As in Colonel Charles Mace?" spoke Gibbs' follower.

"Did you know him?" asked Gibbs turning around.

"Know him...I...He was our liaison when I was back in the CIA."

"Gibbs. Who is this?" asked Ziva approaching the brunette who was somewhat rivaling in her in hair length. Only Gibbs follower's was neater and was in such a neat braid you'd think it a wig.

"Yeah boss, what's going on?" inquired McGee.

"What's happening is our wonderful director Vance has forced upon us another team member. Thinks that with new crime comes new demands and with new demands comes the need for greater numbers."

"What's your name?" asked Ziva.

She was about to speak in the manner she'd learned to use as gunnery sergeant. The way in which Ziva had asked her, had triggered that response. But Tony interrupted. He had to speak again. "Elise Bennet."

Everyone turned around to stare at Tony. "Yes. Do I know you?" asked Elise.

"It's me Elise. Tony."

"Tony? My Dino Tony?"

"Hello sis." smiled Tony.

Gibbs shot Tony a glance, while Ziva shot Tony an accusing look. "You never, ever told us!"

"Because we lost touch. I didn't see the point."

"Once family always family." reminded McGee.

"It's more complicated than that."

"You there." barked Gibbs in Elise's direction. "Tell me any reason you'd think people would be after Mace.

"Sir." she nodded. "Mace was involved in..."

"You can be quiet now, Bennet. We'll take over from here." someone spoke from behind.

Everyone turned around to face a tall burly man in his late forties, with two agents on either side of him. All three of them were C.I.A. And one of them was Nathan Smith. He'd went to his bosses when Mace was shot hoping they'd resolve the situation.

"Agent West." announced the burly one. "We'll be taking over the investigation."

"Actually..." began Elise about to speak.

"Don't interfere Bennet. You're in enough of a hole!" he snapped.

Nathan shot Elise an apologetic glance.

Elise drew West a death stare. "Only because..."

"Quiet." ordered West.

"Colonel Mace was a marine. Our territory."

"This isn't the time for turf wars." commented West.

"No it isn't." added Elise.

Gibbs shot her a look for interfering. But she ignored it and continued. This shocked team Gibbs. She was not scared of him at all.

"You're new agent seems to agree with me." commented West once more.

"No I didn't agree with you. I said it wasn't the time for turf wars. Colonel Mace was a marine and a person. He was murdered and it's our job as Naval Investigators to find out what is going on. Whereas you on the other hand are probably worried about covering up you're own mess!"

"You're insolence put you in a bad place before Bennet. I wouldn't go there for a second time."

"No I tell you what put me in a bad place before. Politics. Goodbye West. Was not very nice to see you again. The door is that way. And I'm sure if you walk far enough you might slip and fall on your ass and I'll get a good laugh which will make my Christmas."

Nathan coughed to try and hide his snicker and Tony smiled.

"Look out for an official complaint. And on your first day." snarled West.

"I look forward to it. I might even frame it." she replied.

Gibbs' eyes widened as West and his two agents left. He was about to turn around to yell at Bennet but the waitress from earlier appeared. "That guy that in here with the taller one. He was the one with Mace."

"Which one?"

"The one with the black suit and no tie."

"You there." barked Gibbs.

She turned around to face him. "Yes, sir?" she inquired.

"Don't call me sir!" he asserted before continuing. "Who was that?"

"That was Agent Smith sir."

"You find out what he was up to. And tell him if he doesn't tell the truth I will arrest him!"

"Yes sir." she nodded."

"Don't call me sir. DiNozzo she's your problem now. You're in charge of her."

"OK. Gibbs." obeyed Tony thinking it best. He turned to Elise. "Let's get you a hat and a gun sis. We've got so much to talk about."

She nodded and followed Tony.

TBC


	3. Chapter 2

As DiNozzo stared at Elise who was checking her new gun out for faults, he couldn't help but wonder why she didn't write to him when he left Rhode Island Military. He didn't know if it was because she hated him or not.

Elise sighed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What?" Tony asked, as he snapped into reality.

"You're looking at me as if you know who I am and you're worried and it's rather perturbing, Special Agent DiNozzo."

"You stopped writing."

"I didn't know where to send the letters to because you never gave me an address." Elise replied, as those it was a simple explanation. Tony could see a difference in her. As a child Elise was sweet natured, and kind; eager to help. Now when he looked at her he could see someone cold, and guarded. He couldn't blame her. He knew her adopted father was horrible to her.

"I sent you letters. I mean it, I really did!"

"Maybe you did and maybe you didn't I don't care anymore. You got on with your life and I got on with mine."

She began to walk to the elevator, and then Tony followed her. "Fine then, you got on with your life and I got on with mine."

On the way back up to the squad room they met Gibbs. "You spoke to your CIA buddy yet?" he asked Elise with his usual manner of impatience.

"Sir, I've rang his cell and his desk phone thirty times between them and he's not answering me. I was hoping to arrange a meeting in M-TAC but…"

"I don't really care just do something! Your desk is behind McGee's!" he barked.

"Sir." she said with a tone of obedience.

"I asked you to stop calling me that." Gibbs said in a quiet but menacing tone.

Elise never said anything else to him and he stormed past her to the elevator, leaving her to follow Tony to the bullpen. "Welcome to our cosy little home." Tony said with a smile. He had not grown up much in Elise's eyes.

"Meet Special Agent Timothy McGee." Tony smiled.

McGee waved to Elise and got a nod in return.

"Special Agent Zi-va David." he said, overstretching her name. The way Tony made fun and humour out of simple things always made Elise smile, and even in her sociopathic state she was having to fight it back. Since she met Tony she had had a crush on him. But, when he deemed her his sister it ended that.

As she thought back to those times Tony grabbed her arm and steered her to her chair. He was his usual excitable self, and that was what she liked about him. She was just too burned out to open her heart up again to care. But if she did he'd be one of the first. Her life had been a living hell, and Tony was the only nice thing she could remember.

"So this is your desk phone…" began Tony.

"I can see that." Elise pointed out sarcastically. She sighed and then her mobile rang. She immediately picked it up. "Nathan?" she asked.

The eagerness in her voice surprised Tony. Since meeting her again a few hours previously, she had not uttered a single nice word and now she spoke so eager, and so kindly to someone other than him.

"_She's just my sister. That was how she wanted it. I can't go back to my stupid high school crush on her can I? No DiNozzo, you can't." _

Tony snapped into reality, as he began to fully listen to what Elise was saying on her end of the phone. "Please Nathan…Meeting in MTAC?...Thanks . See you later."

"_Maybe Gibbs will lay off my back now."_ Elise thought and wished.

…

Gibbs entered Abby's lab. "Hey Abbs, do you have something for me?"

"Gibbs!" she smiled, and spoke with her usual cheeriness. "I haven't got much right now but the bullet that Ducky sent to me, had traces of some sort of fluid which I don't know yet but…I will…I hope…I will. But the bullet it's not anything that's on ballistics. I think it's been made by someone themselves. It's a nice bullet right enough and I might actually use it as my avatar on…"

"Abs." Gibbs prompted her. He needed her back on topic.

"Well anyway, I looked at it under microscope more closely while Mr Mass Spec checks on that fluid, and I noticed the initials. CB. Which made me think even more it was made by someone."

"Thanks Abs." Gibbs said.

"Hey Gibbs!" Abby called him back. He stopped and turned around.

"What's the new girl like?"

He never answered her but walked away.

…

Tony accompanied Elise to MTAC. As they waited there was silence that Tony desperately wanted to end. "You're looking at me." Elise stated. "Whatever guilt you're feeling or regret or anything just, don't feel it."

"What happened to you, Elise?"

"I grew up. Shit happened."

"Listen Elise…" began Tony as the video conference began.

"Oh she won't listen to anyone." Nathan spoke. "Elise listens to Elise."

"Well she's usually correct." Tony defended her.

"I agree with Tony…I mean Special Agent DiNozzo, because you know Nathan that I'm always right. Now tell me what's going on. Why were you meeting up with Mace?"

"I don't even know! Before we got much into our conversation he was killed." Nathan replied. "Hey how is the new job?"

"Don't give me that shit, Nathan! You must have talked about something you were talking to him for at least ten minutes before he got shot." Needless to say she wasn't being nice to him anymore, and it worried Tony less.

"I don't really know and I can't say."

"You can't say it because you don't know or you can't say it because you know something that you probably shouldn't?"

"I think that he was trying to tell me something about Burley."

"Ya think?" Elise asked, and Tony blinked. It was the exact same manner as Gibbs the way she done it.

"Look Nathan you're obviously not…"

She suddenly felt someone's presence behind her. While still looking at the screen, she continued to talk to Nathan. "You're obviously not thinking outside of the box. By the way, why don't you try telling Special Agent Gibbs what you told me? Because he'll think it is a load of crap as well."

"The bullet that killed Colonel Charles Mace, had the initials CB. Does that mean anything to you?" Gibbs asked. Tony watched as Elise's eyes widened. It meant something to her.

"CB?" questioned Nathan, while drawing Elise a look. "I don't think…I will get back to you guys on that one."

"Agent Smith…" began Gibbs but the connection cut out.

"Do you know something Elise?" Tony asked.

"CB." she uttered.

"What is it?" barked Gibbs.

"I don't even know if I am allowed to tell you." Elise replied honestly.

Gibbs drew her a look of question, and she drew him an identical one back.

"_Am I having a nightmare?" Tony wondered. _

"Tell us." Gibbs ordered.

"Sir, they'll give me into trouble and I am not exactly on their best friend list. They hate me. I mean you've seen West."

"_Why is she scared? She's spoke her mind so far, and now she's afraid. What's going on Elise?" Tony worried. _

"Why do they hate you?" Gibbs asked losing his patience.

"It's a real long story but…I'll accept my order sir and tell you who the initials are. It's Carmine Burley." Elise replied, putting her hands behind her back to hide their tremor. Tony saw it though.

"Who is he?" Gibbs asked.

"He's evil, sir."

"Who is he?" Gibbs questioned again.

"Carmine Burley, he is obsessed with science - facial manipulation, surgery and all that. Then there was DNA. He could replicate that. But most of all he tortured people. Almost fifty and no one knew they'd been captured because he used to give fake bodies for the authorities that had the DNA match and the facial match. There was no way anyone could tell them apart, and for months he'd torture them."

"Why?"

"He got a sick pleasure out of it. A very sick pleasure out of it."

"Why was the CIA involved?" Tony asked.

"There were agents that were being killed. If Agent West asks, I never told you. Please."

"Told me what Probie?" Gibbs asked before heading up the steps. "Are you coming?"

"Yes boss." Tony spoke with a smile. Gibbs calling Elise Probie meant he'd at least accepted her a little bit.

"Wasn't asking you DiNozzo you should know by now."

TBC

A/N Had a think about who I am shipping. Yeah. I know now. Big thanks to Smush68 for support.


	4. Chapter 3

Elise took the stairs to get away from everyone at NCIS and began to dial Nathan's number. "Come on, please pick up." she encouraged the phone. "Damn it you're never there for me when I need you; so much for having my six."

She slid to the floor, on the stairwell and sighed. "Wow, you must really like concrete huh, to turn down a nice office chair that you can swing on and recline in." she heard a familiar voice say. She forced herself not to break into laughter and stood up, putting on her cold act. She didn't want to get hurt and she didn't want to have a crush on Tony.

Tony looked at her with his questioning face. "Look, you can follow me around here all you want Tony I am not going to play happy families with you."

She went to storm away, upstairs but Tony's words stopped her. "I came to ask you something about Carmine Burley."

She looked around and sighed. "What?"

Tony's phone rang and he had to answer it. "Hello…We'll be right up."

When he got off of the phone, Elise could see Tony wasn't happy, and that meant Gibbs wasn't happy. "What's going on?"

"You're old boss is here."

"Shit!" exclaimed Elise in frustration. She stormed upstairs and into the squad room to find Nathan, and West. "Oh so you've decided to show your face. Now that CB is out. I should have known! I had a right to know!"

"You've no rights at all, Bennet and don't you dare open your mouth like that."

Tony walked up behind her, and drew Ziva a look that asked what was going on. She just shrugged and he looked to McGee who did the same.

"Elise." Nathan uttered. "Calm down."

Elise saw Gibbs shooting her a questioning look and she sighed. "I thought you'd have my six Nathan. Obviously not."

"As I was saying Special Agent Gibbs before Bennet interrupted us is that Carmine Burley tortured fifty people and killed forty nine of them. He's a dangerous man and I think it would be better if we took over the investigation."

"Did you say that only forty nine of them were killed?" Tony asked. "That means one of them is still alive."

"Who?" Gibbs asked West.

"At this moment in time it would be unwise to mention that person. That person does not want their identity to be known."

"Did this person actually express that or are you just offering your opinion of your opinion?" Elise asked.

"Opinion of your opinion?" Tony questioned, to get a head slap from Gibbs.

"Do you know who it is?" Gibbs asked Elise. Naturally it put her in some position.

"Yes I do."

"Bennet don't you say anything!" ordered West.

"Or what? What are you going to do? Really?"

"I'll make sure no government agency touches you and what else are you good for? You didn't go to college. You went straight into the marines. Not a marine anymore and you can't go back."

"Hey! There is no such thing as an ex-marine and you should hang around those guys and women, because I tell you one thing. There is more honour in them than your damn CIA."

Everyone suddenly looked at Elise. "You were a marine?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes sir." replied Elise

Gibbs realised that was why Elise called him sir all the time. It was what she was programmed to do. His desk phone rang as West looked at Elise menacingly. Nathan shot her an apologetic look, as Gibbs took the phone.

"Abbs." Tony heard Gibbs speak down the phone.

"Gibbs, I found out what the fluid on the bullet was. It was from a plant whose given nickname is Fur Elise. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"Good work Abbs." Gibbs replied before hanging up the phone. He drew Elise a look and it frightened her. Not because it was cold, or menacing but because it was actually kind.

She blinked and looked away. At that moment, Vance stepped into the bull pen. "Agent West. Agent Smith. Before we go into turf wars here I would like to remind you that Colonel Mace was a marine, which makes his killer our jurisdiction. I am sure that Special Agent Gibbs and his team would be happy to work with you."

"That would make me happy, however I think Bennet here is ruining the integrity of this case."

Vance looked at Bennet and then back to West. "If you feel that way, she can take a break from it then."

Gibbs shot Vance a look. "Gibbs in my office now! Probationary Agent Bennet, there is no need for you to stay why don't you go home?"

Elise quickly grabbed her things, feeling humiliated. "Wait." Tony called after her but she was already at the elevator.

"McGee why don't you take agent West down to see Colonel Mace's body while David and DiNozzo fill Smith in on what we know so far?"

"This way Agent West." McGee spoke.

When McGee, Vance, West and Gibbs were out of the bullpen Tony turned to look at Nathan who was smiling at Ziva.

"Why didn't you stick up for her? Aren't you meant to be her friend?"

"I don't get involved in her battles because she always asks me not to."

"Friends don't care about that."

"You seem to care an awful lot about her yet you met her like today?" Nathan questioned.

"I met her years ago."

"Was she as bad then as she is now?" asked Nathan.

"No. Something in the CIA changed her."

Ziva could see Tony was angry. He rarely got like that, but when he did his mannerisms was like Gibbs'. She could see Tony really cared for Elise and was beginning to wonder if his liking for her was not the platonic one he made it out to be.

…

Gibbs was angry with Vance. "You sent home MY agent Leon! My agent!"

"This is coming from the man who didn't want her on his team in the first place!"

"Bennet could have helped us out."

"By telling you who the surviving victim was?"

"It was her wasn't it?"

Vance sighed. "You knew didn't you?" Gibbs asked disgusted.

"It's how I put her through so quickly. She saved my life once in a CIA operation. She's a damn good agent Gibbs. Probably a good marine, after all she was a top rate sniper who was in a secret part of the marine corps. CIA recruited her under duress and she worked for them up until she was tortured, she only got out three months ago. They never got what they needed out of her."

"You sent her away? Burley is probably going to go after her!"

"I can't do anything with West breathing down my neck Gibbs and you know that."

Gibbs stormed out five minutes later and down into the bullpen to find Ziva in conversation, laughing with Nathan while Tony was on his computer.

"DiNozzo you're with me!"

"On your six boss!"

Gibbs removed his mobile from his pocket. He was going to phone Tobias.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4

Tobias stepped into Gibbs' living room to find Tony there as well. "What's going on?" Tobias asked Gibbs.

"Do you know an Elise Bennet?"

Tobias blinked.

**[Flashback]**

"FBI Toby." laughed Elise. "Is it me or did I just save your life, for the tenth time?"

Tobias stood up from the ground and saw the car that tried to knock him down. Elise pointed her gun in its direction.

"You'll never make a shot that distance!"

She fired and seconds later the car spun off the road. "Shooting was the only thing I was ever good at."

"I think it's safe to say they're dead." Tobias concluded.

"Ya think Toby?" she replied.

Tobias shot her a look. "What?" asked Elise.

"Nothing you just…Never mind."

**[End Of Flashback]**

"Know her? Yeah. Why?"

"The CIA are against her, and NCIS can't help her." Tony explained before standing up. "Someone escaped their imprisonment. Carmine Burley and he could be after her. We were thinking you could help us take down Burley rather than the working with the CIA."

There was a knock at the door.

Tony looked out the window. "Boss it's her."

Gibbs walked to answer the door. She was about to turn away, but she turned back. "I do not wish to intrude on your free time sir, but I…"

"You're not intruding; we were just about to invite you."

She followed Gibbs inside and she saw Tony. He looked at her and she looked back. "So you followed Kevin Bennett's wishes and became a marine?" Tony asked, a little sharply.

"I wanted to be one myself, don't think otherwise Tony."

"Why wouldn't you want to do something that would stop you getting a beating?"

"Tony please, not now." begged Elise and for the first time ever since seeing her again he could see the sensitive and vulnerable Elise he knew all those years back at Rhode Island.

"Elise?" Tobias spoke as Gibbs began to wonder on Tony and Elise's recent conversation.

"FBI Toby? What are you doing here?"

"He's come to listen to what you know about Burley. It's why you're here." Gibbs spoke.

"How did you know?"

Gibbs just drew her a look to which she didn't seem fazed by. "Start from the beginning, marine."

"When I was in the marines, we'd been deployed to Somalia where we were securing top secret missiles, from the FUSIA plans." She began.

"Should you be telling us this Elise?" Tobias

"Probably not, but I don't care anymore. It's why I'm here. Burley needs to go down."

Tobias smiled because Elise had always told him what he needed to know when he'd been working with the CIA.

"How long ago was this?" Gibbs asked.

"It was two years ago."

"So you were not that long in the CIA?" asked Gibbs.

"No."

"What has Somalia got to do with Burley?" asked Tobias.

"Carmine Burley is not just a scientist. He is an opportunist. He needs money to keep going on with the DNA and facial manipulation. So he gets that by espionage and he gets the information for espionage via torturing the right people. Now when we were in Somalia three months after we were deployed I was told to put a password into a box containing the final plans of the FUSIA project. Only I knew the password. But Burley didn't. I didn't know what was happening but marines would go home and not come back because their bodies would be found. It was horrible Gunny!"

Gibbs looked at her.

"You ask me to stop calling you sir." she shrugged and he smiled his half smile.

"So why weren't we informed?" Gibbs asked.

"You guys probably were, but if you were Burley you'd make life easy for yourself and choose the dead that already had natural causes and use your skills to make it convincing as the torture victim. Stop an investigation, while the whole time those marines were really being tortured for the code."

"How did you find out about Burley?" Tobias asked.

"Smith. He showed up and you've seen him. He's not exactly a marine. So naturally he stood out but...We had two Russian sleepers and they tried to kill me. Smith who I'd been keeping an eye on since he turned up screening our base was the one who saved my life and then somehow the blame of their deaths were going on me and the only way out was to go into the CIA. They'd never disclose anything in the CIA but the minute you work with them you've to. It's..."

"So, that's why you left the job Kevin wanted you to do?" Tony asked. He was blaming himself for the abuse she got from her adopted father because he did nothing to stop except take a few punches once but it only make things worse for Elise, and Elise told Tony not to tell anyone.

"Tony, he's dead!"

"Well about damn time! Great!" Tony replied.

Gibbs looked at Tony and deduced that Elise's father had been violent towards her. Tony never spoke like that about anyone.

"Maybe, but I don't care either way." replied Elise.

"You should have let me phone the police!" commented Tony.

"What? To do what? I was in the wrong therefore I deserved what happened." replied Elise.

"You were in the wrong because I talked back to him about hitting you in the first place for some stupid map reading that went wrong in the summer activities. That was the last time I saw you. Don't you think for a minute that it killed me to see it happen? The last thing I remember of you was you being hurt because of me and now I have a chance to be you friend again and...you won't be because you've got trust issues and you're scared."

"Seems like you've had the worst lifetime ever." commented Tobias.

"I am not scared Tony and it's not the time. We're talking about Burley here!"

She continued after she composed herself. "When I got in the CIA they took advantage of my shooting skills. It was the only thing I was ever good at. Then I became Smiths' partner and I was there for a year and a half before I found out about Burley and I knew looking into his character and the reasons he tortures people...It wasn't just my people he tortured..."

"You know that he'd been the one killing your fellow marines." finished Gibbs.

She nodded. "I was meant to meet up with an agent undercover. But it was a trap. Burley's face lit up when he realized I was in Somalia with FUSIA and..."

"You were the one he tortured." interrupted Tony.

No tears ran down her face. She was numb to emotion and pain. "Brilliantly deduced." she told him. "It doesn't matter. If you're going to take Burley down don't trust West or Smith, or anyone from the CIA."

"Why don't you trust Smith? Wasn't he your partner?" asked Tobias. "You two were inseparable."

"It's not that I don't trust him per say, it's the people he works with and trusts himself. I'll figure something out."

"We'll figure something out." Tony and Gibbs corrected in unison.

Elise looked up. "We?"

"You're part of our team now..." began Gibbs.

"Really? Vance is gonna end up firing me."

"Why?" asked Tony. "You've done nothing wrong."

"Complaints already made about me probably from West. I'm only just there. It's not looking good. Not to mention no one really likes me..."

Tony's phone rang. "McGee...We'll be on our way."

"What is it DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs.

"West and Smith were shot at."

Elise's eyes widened. "Nathan is he OK?" she asked. Tony swallowed. She had concern for someone. It made him feel out of place somehow.

"He's fine. West's been taken to hospital."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh that's fine then."

"The director wants to see us."

"I should go." spoke Elise standing up. "You never heard anything from me."

"I am sorry Elise, for failing!" Tony apologized to her.

Elise swallowed before leaving Gibbs' house.

"DiNozzo..." spoke Gibbs.

"Yeah?"

"Don't blame yourself for what happened between her and her father..."

"He's not her father. She was adopted. And you should have seen the way he treated her for it."

"I don't understand it. Any man who had her as a daughter should be happy." commented Tobias.

"Clearly he was unappreciative." sneered Gibbs. He hated seeing men being horrible to their kids. Especially when their kids were relying on them and since he'd lost his daughter all those years ago he hated to see all those men throw what he himself could have had away.

Suddenly he slapped DiNozzo on the back of the head. "Rule six. Never say you're sorry it's a sign of weakness. You just broke it."

Tony winced at the aftermath of the slap.

… … … … … …

Elise began making her way into the bar for a bourbon. As she drank she cursed herself for ever surviving the torture. Not just the torture that Burley had inflicted on her but the torture she'd been living for almost nineteen years since she woken up from a comma at the age of eight.

Apparently she'd been in a car crash. Her parents had died, and she'd no other family. It was all she was told and she was soon adopted by Melinda Bennet and her husband Kevin. Melinda was kind, and caring but when she died Elise's life was a misery with Kevin and her foster brother Samuel, until she met Tony.

They'd not gotten along at first and there was times where they didn't get along after they'd become friends. But they'd always resolved their issues and stuck up for one another. They were both outcasts at Rhode Island and they helped one another. Then one day Tony called her sis, and it just started from then until summer came and then the activities and after that Tony was gone and she tried writing to him but he never ever replied so she gave up.

She was unaware that Tony had, but Kevin had always stopped her from getting them.

Her vision got blurry as she stepped outside. She tried to get to her car in the car park but she struggled to stand, and with half of the drunken crowd that came from the bar she blended well in. When she got there she leaned against the door as she tried to phone her desk phone at NCIS. She knew no one else's number.

It was futile when the phone picked up and McGee answered she lost consciousness, and the last thing she remembered hearing was "We meet again my Fur Elise."

TBC


	6. Chapter 5

When Elise woke up she was in the back of an army vehicle. Her hands were tied behind her back preventing her from getting up. She may have been able to fight it if she really wanted to but there was no will to fight left in her, and the fact the drugs were still taking their toll on her didn't help either.

She could hear another vehicle that most probably belonged to Burley's mercenaries. Just like before she was bemused at the power he had. He had mercenaries, scientists, top secrets and the ability to torture people.

She struggled to move herself slightly to try and see if it was light or dark. It was day light. She'd been there all night. As she lay in the back of the truck she began to think about what Tony had said. "_"I am sorry Elise, for failing!" _

"_It was never your fault Tony. Never, ever your fault!"_

She closed her eyes as she began to lose consciousness again. She'd no idea where she was going, but she didn't care.

* * *

Nathan paced the floor of the bullpen, in a state of anxiety as he worried over Elise and her whereabouts. Before she was tortured, he and she were on good par with one another – well when she was not arguing with him – and he had a deep care for her and protectiveness and he felt like they'd lost their bond that they'd developed during the course of a year and a half.

He opened his wallet and stared at a photo of him and her. Her hair was in its usual plait and her eyes were their usual stern obedient selves. But she was smiling. She hardly ever smiled. It was when they'd both received the Presidential Medal Of Freedom from the President himself.

He sighed and put the photo back. Everyone else in the bullpen was at the bar they'd traced Elise's call to. They'd overheard Burley speaking. Nathan just hoped that she'd be back in time for Christmas.

* * *

Ziva bagged and tagged the glass Elise was drinking from in the bar. It'd not been touched for some reason. The bartender had obviously decided to leave clearing up until the morning. Tony got the CCTV footage, and hastily bagged and tagged that while McGee checked Elise's car. He found her phone lying underneath it and like Ziva and Tony bagged and tagged it.

Gibbs checked on the surrounding area feeling somewhat guilty and responsible for the situation. He contemplated on whether or not this situation could have been avoided if only he'd not let her leave his house and he'd taken her back to NCIS with him and Tony.

"Boss, this is Bennet's phone." spoke McGee.

"I spoke to the bartender who served her. He said she was upset looking as she drunk, and figured she was an everyday...loser."

Tony sighed and Gibbs did too. "She's just unfortunate."

Tony drew Gibbs a questioning look. "_He stuck up for her. Why?" thought Tony._

"Did anyone see her come out of here?" asked Gibbs.

"Not the ones that I've spoken to. None of them saw her. They all had hangovers. But Tony's got footage from inside the bar and outside for out here." Ziva replied.

"Get it back to Abby." ordered Gibbs.

"Boss, I was thinking. How would West get hit in the arm by a bullet and Smith completely missed? It was the same with Mace. He was there..." contemplated Tony.

"I think it is time we had a talk with Smith." spoke Gibbs.

* * *

When Elise woke up again she was in a damp cell that was electronically locked. They could only be open by access cards. "Elise, my poor girl. You must have been really upset all those months. All on your own. But then again it may not have been that different for you."

"I don't give a shit about what you have to say!"

Burley's face lost his fake smile and turned menacing. "Like your allies in FUSIA you'll go down. I just can't wait to begin." spoke Burley coming up to peer through the bars.

She laughed mockingly at him. "You must be pretty delusional if you think that I'm going to tell you anything. We've been through this conversation before. You can try and inflict as much pain on me as you'd like, but if you think for one moment that I'm going to tell you anything you are sadly mistaken. So just kill me now."

"I don't want to kill you Fur Elise. I want to make you suffer. Do you still feel that electricity is too mundane for your chemistry brain?"

* * *

Nathan sat down in interrogation as he waited on Gibbs to come in. He came twenty minutes later and sat across from him, before showing various photos of Mace. "Colonel Charles Mace. You met him a year ago, didn't ya?"

"Yes." replied Nathan.

"A year and two months after you met Elise." he continued putting a photo of Elise in the marines on the desk.

Nathan smiled at her photo. She was smiling with her fellow officers, and her hair was pinned very neatly in a small plait in her hair. He always wondered how she got it so short.

"Smiling for something in particular?"

"Just thinking about something." replied Nathan.

"About Elise or Mace or both?"

"That's none of your business."

"She's my agent. She is my business and she's missing now."

"Why am I here?"

"You tell me."

"No you tell me."

Gibbs drew Nathan his famous stare. Nathan blinked. Only Elise had ever stared at him like that. "Elise does that." he commented. "When she's really skeptical for something I've said or when she's in a pissed off mood."

"Would you say she was quite a skeptical person?" asked Gibbs raising his head.

"Yes. She had trust issues of everything. Took me two months before she'd let me have a conversation with her."

"You were in Somalia."

"I was after two Russian sleeper agents in the marines."

"So you knew about project FUSIA?"

"How did you know about it?"

"I could ask you the same question. It was a private marine weapon base. Not even the CIA knew about it. Unless you were Burley's friend then..."

"I am not his friend. I resent that accusation!"

"Then how do you know?"

"Because West told me, agent Gibbs."

"West told you?"

"Yes. West explained that was what Burley wanted her for when she was kidnapped. I didn't know that FUSIA was top...If it was so covert how did...How did West know?"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs called. His senior agent came into interrogation. "you and Ziva go to West's hospital bring him in now!"

"But I thought he got hit in the arm and that he hurt his head?" asked DiNozzo.

"I don't think there is much wrong with him."

Gibbs' mobile rang. "Hello." he answered. "Abby...I'll be right there Abs...I'm coming..."

Ziva came bursting into interrogation next. "Gibbs. Burley's been in touch. Apparently Bennet is dead. Her body's location co-ordinates have been sent to McGee. He's processing it right now and trying to trace the email."

"DiNozzo, David that hospital now!"

"Yes Gibbs." replied Tony and Ziva in unison.

"What did Elise tell you?" asked Nathan.

"She says you don't pull of being a marine, but I could tell she doesn't blame you."

Nathan swallowed. "I've let her down."

"You're not the only one." replied Gibbs before leaving interrogation and heading to Abby's lab.

* * *

TBC

A/N Thanks to Smush68 for all the wonderful conversations and reviews.


	7. Chapter 6

Burley threw Elise back into her cell. She'd not spoken a single word and never was she going to and he was beginning to fall under the conclusion that she wouldn't, hence his anger.

"Elise it pains me to see you so unhappy; so much in pain. Could you just tell me the damn code so that I can kill you?"

He stared in through her cell. "Why was it that you of all people were chosen to punch in the code?"

Elise never answered but stared at the ground as blood from her arm dripped on to the cold floor.

When she'd been tortured before he had started engraving the word orphan into her arm, but he had been interrupted when Mace and Nathan rescued her. Now he'd finished the job, and she was in extreme pain. She however refused to let anyone see that she was, especially not Burley.

"If you tell me I'll let you out for Christmas."

She laughed despite her pain. She loved to show she didn't care about anything. "Burley, you must be one stupid, naive and really delusional bastard if you think that anything that you'll do or say is going to persuade me to give you the code. My people died not uttering a word. They died not knowing but most of all they knew it was me who put that code in. They could have spilled my name at any time. They didn't. Now if you think that I am going to let them down, you are sadly mistaken so you might as well just kill me now."

The sound of footsteps approached her cell for their creator to stand next to Burley. "I might have guessed you'd be in on this." she sneered.

"Talk some sense into her. It seems that I've had absolutely no luck!" smiled Burley.

* * *

"West is missing." spoke Tony coming back into the bullpen with Ziva.

"Missing?" inquired Gibbs.

"We do not know where he is." replied Ziva.

"Boss, I've found something." spoke McGee.

"Her location?" asked Tony eagerly.

"Not yet, but I've managed to hack into Burley's email from the email that he sent us. I think you should see this."

"Plasma McGee." Gibbs ordered.

McGee switched on the plasma to show Burley's email inbox. "He's been speaking to West since the beginning. Since around about nineteen/twenty years ago. Apparently Burley faked her death when he was still trying out the method."

"It would explain why she was chosen before Burley found out about her know the codes for FUSIA." commented Ziva. "He wanted to see his experiment."

"She was taken to a private hospital still in a comma from a car crash and then she was adopted..."

"West and Burley were both involved in this." spoke McGee.

Nathan overheard most of the conversation as he made his way into the bullpen. "Bastards, when I get a hold of them both...So you think that she was definitely set up then?"

They turned around to face him. "Ya think, agent Smith?" asked Gibbs sarcastically.

"She does that too." he commented in reply.

"What did Abby find?" asked Tony drawing Nathan a look.

"She was drugged with Opium, Abby found residue in her glass."

"How could that get in her glass though?"

"Abby's checking the CCTV right now to see how."

"Always the bartender." spoke Tony.

"What about the body that Ducky found?" McGee asked.

"Set on fire..." began Gibbs.

"We're wasting our time." spoke Smith.

"What?" asked everyone else in unison.

"He's killed her." Nathan said with a swallow.

"How can we be sure he has and it's not just another one of his false bodies?" asked Tony.

"Because when he finally let his victims go. He burned them. Either she's gave him what he wants or either that, he realised she was never going to give him it."

"DiNozzo with me now." spoke Gibbs.

"On your six boss."

"Let's see how Abby and Ducky are doing now."

* * *

Abby began looking through the CCTV footage. "Tony was right." she said to herself. "It was the bartender."

"Now I predict Gibbs is going to walk in right about now."

She snapped around to look at the door to her lab.

She turned around and back to her computer and snapped back around again. "Now!"

She sighed. "My Gibbs radar is wearing out lately. I need more Caf-Pow."

"What ya got Abbs?" asked Gibbs walking into the lab.

"Hi Tony!" smiled Abby.

She walked over and gave him a hug. "Thanks Abby."

"Abby. You've got something for me." insisted Gibbs.

"Oh right." she replied.

"I don't think straight unless I've got Caf-Pow." she hinted.

Gibbs stared at her.

"I need to earn it first don't I?" she asked earning a reply of Gibbs rolling his eyes. She turned around to the computer. "I isolated Probationary Agent Bennet's spot at the bar. When she wasn't looking the bartender put something in the drink which I've Identified as Opium. But you already know that because I told you guys already."

"Good work Abby." praised Gibbs kissing her forehead.

"Gibbs. Do you think that it's really her that's..."

Gibbs never replied but left, Tony following him to Ducky's autopsy. Abby sighed and turned back to her computer.

* * *

"Ducky." spoke Gibbs entering the autopsy room.

"Ah yes, Jethro I was expecting you to come. Mr Palmer and I have been looking for clues on the body to find anything that may suggest this is or is not Miss Bennet. But I've not had much luck accessing her medical records. The body we have here, if we take it to be Elise Bennet; well she's healthy. Her heart is in excellent condition, as is her liver, and her lungs. She's not even had her tonsils or appendix out."

"It's amazing how one can look at a burnt corpse and be able to..." began Palmer receiving stares from Tony, Gibbs and Ducky.

"As for her mind, I've discovered quite a bit about the poor girl." continued Ducky. "Mr Smith was very kind in helping me access her service file from the CIA. This here is top secret Gibbs and I am shocked at what this girl has survived, and been through."

"She did go through a lot." interrupted Tony.

"Yes. She did Anthony." agreed Ducky. "Let's start from the beginning of the report. She woke up from a comma with no memory of what happened before that. Age of eight. She was told by the Doctor there that her parents were dead. Her mother had died in the accident, and her father had died in the marines."

"What type of an accident?" asked Gibbs.

"It doesn't say." replied Ducky.

"It was a car crash." answered Tony.

"She was then adopted by Melinda Bennet and Kevin. She went to live with them and their son Samuel. Melinda died four years later and Elise Bennet lost another mother. Perhaps it was that tragic situation which brought Anthony and Elise together to form a mutual bond and trust. So much so that she welcomed you in as a family member - her brother. You were the brother that her delinquent foster brother would never be."

Tony swallowed at these words – he didn't feel right being her brother. "She left school passing every subject with at least an A minus and she went into the marines. From there she went to sniper school and was in several covert operations until she made a gunny and then finally she was posted to Somalia where she and several others buried the FUSIA missiles. This is not here but I'm going on what you've told me. She met Agent Smith, who was sent after Russian sleeper agents. He had no idea about FUSIA until he was told by Agent West. I've noticed that she tends to not trust people upon meeting them, particularly men. Possibly because of the domestic abuse she was subject to as a child."

"How bad was the abuse?"

"She was never put in hospital. But I think in many ways Miss Bennet has never grown up properly. She is a very serious adult, who takes a serious conscientious point of view to her work, but emotionally she has not been given the love that a child needs to grow mentally. Her life itself has been torture. I think that perhaps if we don't find her soon...the damage that it's doing to her mind may be irreversible."

"Are Ziva and McGee at the bar yet, arresting the bartender?" asked Tony, changing the subject.

"They'll bring him in DiNozzo."

Tony paced up and down. "She...understood me. No one else ever did. And I was absolutely horrible to her at first. But she always stuck up for me. Always. It's...It's not fair Gibbs. She did nothing wrong, and she's suffered. She always did what everyone else wanted, never doing what she wanted. And this is how she is treated."

Gibbs looked at DiNozzo, with a worried look. Tony was rarely so open in front of Ducky, or even Palmer.

"Tell her that." he replied to Tony before turning to Ducky. "Duck, how can we be sure that Smith wasn't working with West and Burley as well?"

"I think that it would be very unlikely. Mr Smith has a great fondness for her. I think that perhaps if she was not so closed up emotionally and had a greater understanding of the human heart, perhaps then...I think in many ways Mr Smith loves her. But he is incapable of comprehending it. He always requested to have her on missions with him. From what I've heard he's always protective of her and he did not stop until he found her."

Tony swallowed. "Could be best friends." commented Tony.

"How many friends do you imagine Elise Bennet has Anthony? To accept one would be the highest honor and in her world she'd treat them like they were only acquaintances. There is a strong relationship there. So I think it's safe to say that Nathan Smith has nothing to do with it."

The sound of Gibbs' phone ringing made them snap from the conversation to await Gibbs answering it. "Ziver...We'll be right down."

"What is it?" asked Tony.

"Bartender, Sean Mars, turned up dead."

"Let's move out." spoke DiNozzo.

"Mr Palmer, get everything ready." ordered Ducky.

TBC

* * *

A/N Thanks for all the alerts guys! Thanks to Smush68


	8. Chapter 7

McGee and Ziva began searching the bartender's house. "Several final demands." commented McGee as he bagged and tagged Sean Mars' letters.

Ziva opened a drawer to find a pile of fifty dollar bills "Four thousand dollars in cash by the looks of it. Give this to Abby." She put them into the crime scene bags.

"Ziva what ya got?" asked Gibbs walking in as he saw her bagging and tagging.

"It seems that Sean Mars has been paid money. Most likely to spike the probationary agent's drink." Ziva replied.

"Why kill him afterwards?" asked McGee.

"It could be suicide, natural causes...We don't know until Ducky does his autopsy." stated Ziva.

"Where is he?" asked Gibbs.

"Ducky or the body?" asked Ziva.

"Body Ziva." Gibbs replied as though it was obvious.

"Upstairs. In his room." she replied. "Where is Tony?"

"Here." spoke the senior field agent making his way into the kitchen. "I reckon what's happened is that Mars was given an incentive to spike her drink. That's the money you just bagged and tagged. Then instead of giving him more money for doing it they killed him. Or either that, that was the money he paid him and he wanted more to keep his mouth shut. He does have a lot of unpaid bills."

"Balance probability is he's been killed by Burley or his men because of it." commented McGee.

"How did Burley give him the money so fast? Not even he would know where Elise was going to drink."

"He was obviously following her DiNozzo." answered Gibbs. "And it was him who kidnapped her. Abby's been over the CCTV footage with a fine tooth comb."

"I'm missing something though." rambled Tony. "What?"

"Tony perhaps you should rest..."

"How can I rest?"

Gibbs looked away. He never enjoyed seeing Tony upset. His senior field agent was not the type of man to cry. But he was the kind of man who'd not stop until he had sorted what he needed to. Gibbs knew that and he respected his agent for that.

He also knew that if he didn't find Elise soon that not only would she lose it all, but Tony too. _"They must have been really, really close." thought Gibbs._

* * *

Nathan left Vance's office angry. Vance told him explicitly that they couldn't execute a rescue operation even if they knew where Bennet was unless they were absolutely sure that she was still alive and the CIA director wasn't helpful either. He knew one thing though. He was certainly resigning his post as an agent after he rescued Elise. He just needed to prove she was alive.

He walked downstairs and into the bullpen. The team had only just got back. "You have a very kind director." commented Nathan sarcastically.

"I am sorry I do not follow." spoke Ziva.

"They are refusing to help her unless they know that she's alive."

Gibbs sighed.

"Then we'll just need to prove that she's alive." spoke Tony.

"Easier said than done." commented McGee.

"We just need to hurry." spoke Gibbs. "Remember what Ducky said."

* * *

Three hours later

"Ducky you got something for me?" asked Gibbs making his way into autopsy with a hint of urgency in the way he walked and talked.

"Only that Sean Mars here died of overdosing on opium."

"Anything on the body that is meant to be my new agent?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes the ultimatum made by the director. I've heard all about it. Until I get complete access to her medical records. I can only go on information about Miss Bennet gained by the information other people have. A lot of her injuries were obtained during top secret missions, therefore treated by a top secret doctor. She was skilled and they used her for that."

"Do you think Burley will kill her Ducky if she doesn't give him the code?"

"I have no idea of Burley's character whatsoever. Therefore at this stage I cannot comment. I can imagine he'd kill her once he got what he wanted but as for any other reason I am not sure. I do however know that Miss Bennet is not the kind of agent who'd just turn over the code. She will have taken into account that her fellow men died even though they knew it was her who had the code. Why else would this Burley not know until he met her? She's honoring her fellow marines who died protecting her."

"That's a marine." spoke Gibbs his throat suddenly turning dry.

He turned around.

"Jethro, when you do find her again - if she is still alive - go easy on her. She's been through enough trauma."

"I will Duck." replied Gibbs.

"Oh and Gibbs, Tony may not seem like it. But I think he's a little..."

"I know."

Gibbs turned around. _"I need some coffee."_

* * *

As Gibbs was waiting in the queue for coffee Tony began reading the report so far on the case. McGee was downstairs helping Abby look through the remainder of Burley and West's emails. Ziva stared from across the bullpen at her senior field agent. She couldn't hold in her thoughts anymore. She had to ask him the questions bothering her.

"Why do you care about her so?" asked Ziva.

Tony looked up from what he was doing. "What do you mean?"

"You call her your sister. As if you have this bond with her. It was years ago Tony. Years since you last spoke to her. You have Abby as your sister now..."

"Ziva. I...When I went to Rhode Island Military. I was fifteen and she was twelve. I know it had been years since my mother died but part of me was still grieving. So was she. We didn't get along at first. Mostly because I didn't see why she was meant to be there. Then I realised her dad was in the marines and he knew people in high places. One day I got framed for ruining someone's boots." He smiled. "And you know how they are about your boots at military school. She proved to them it wasn't me. That it was actually Cameron Barns. What a weasel!"

"Why does it seem like she doesn't want to be you friend? If she really cared about you enough..."

"Ziva she's been through hell. The last thing she remembered about me, was me provoking her foster father only for him to take it out on her. It was horrible Ziva. Horrible."

"If she really is your family Tony, then she's family to us all, yes?"

Tony looked up as Ziva made her way over to him. He blinked as she sat on his desk. "It's just after all...We've all trusted people before and we've been let down."

"Elise is different." replied Tony.

"I hope so."

"Why don't you like her?"

"Because her braid is longer than mine." answered Ziva with a smile. "We'll find her Tony. I promise. I've got your back. Like you've always got mine."

"Ziva?"

"I'm just saying, that I'm here if you need my support. I am your sister too!"

Tony smiled. "Thanks."

Ziva nodded and sat back down at her desk, exchanging worried glances at Tony every now and then.

TBC


	9. Chapter 8

Abby began comparing the opium from Sean Mars' stomach contents to the opium residue on Elise's drink. The substances matched one another like she had suspected. She ran both of them through the mass spectrometer.

Three hours passed but Abby was still patient in what she was looking for. Finally she got what she wanted on the computer. It was another hour before she definitely found something that Gibbs would like to know.

She was about to phone Gibbs when he strolled into the lab. "Hey Abs what ya got?"

"Gibbs. Gibbs. Gibbs." she jumped. "I think I found Elise."

"What?"

"The opium was a unique blend. Not like most opium you'd find on a market but more like ones you get from pharmaceutical companies. I checked the ingredients against most brands found in pharmacies only one was complete mach. It's a new brand. The company which produces them got their formulae from a company in West Virginia. The bank details for that company was the same details found on an old laboratory quite a few miles outside Washington D.C. Sixteen miles to be exact. The laboratory was bought several months before Elise had been kidnapped by Burley before."

"That's good work Abs." praised Gibbs.

"By working backwards from the usual method of tracing somewhere from an email being sent I was able to use this location here to compare with the IP address that Burley sent his emails from. It's a match."

Gibbs sat a Caf-pow on his forensic scientist's desk. Abby smiled and turned to her computer. "Keep searching through those emails Abs. I need help finding out whether or not Elise is still alive."

* * *

Elise had her knees to her chest inside her cell, as she rocked backwards and forwards. A tear slid from its duct, and down her cheek, before landing onto the floor, dampening it even more. She put her hand to her cheek to double check that she was definitely crying. She had not done so since she was nine and the whole idea of crying was foreign to her in a way. As she stared at her reflection in a puddle she saw how weak she'd become. She hoped that Burley would get the message that she wasn't going to give the code away, and that he'd kill her so that she could have her suffering ended.

"What's wrong Bennet? Are those tears I see? Nathan isn't here to help you now is he?" asked West walking up to her cell.

"Nathan might not be here to save me. But I am sure he's worked out what a horrible scum bag you are. He's far smarter than you'd give him credit for."

"You were always so loyal."

"Loyalty is something that I can not explain to a man like you, so please do not talk to me about it."

"C'mon Bennet. Burley is getting impatient. He says if you don't give up the code soon. He's going to have to try drowning you next."

"Then let him." she told West standing up and walking to the bars despite her pain. "I have told you a million times that nothing you ever do or say can make me give up the code!"

"We'll soon see." he replied.

* * *

"Tony. It's late. You've been working for two days straight now. It's the 24th of December. It's the early hours of the morning. Just please, get some rest." begged Ziva.

"Ziva. I can't rest until I find something that proves that it wasn't Elise that we found."

"Look Tony." spoke Ziva picking up the autopsy on Elise's supposed body. "Even if this was her. Ducky said it was a perfectly healthy woman who never even had her appendix or tonsils out. Well he said so with long fancy words but that was what he meant. Now you should be happy that she was healthy."

"Ziva say that again." commanded Tony with urgency.

"Now you should be happy that she was healthy."

"Before that."

"Never had her appendix or tonsils out?"

[**Flashback]**

"_Sis are you alright?" asked Tony during their afternoon free time as Elise sat on the adjacent swing._

"_I'm OK. Dino. It's just really warm."_

_"Sis it's autumn. Are you sure you are OK?"_

_"I am fine. It's just a stomach ache." she replied before collapsing off of the swing._

"_Elise." cried Tony as she jumped off and went to see her. "Elise. Wake up. Wake up."_

_A little while later she was in the hospital and they were operating on her. _

_**[End of Flashback]**_

I need to see Gibbs."

He stood up and ran upstairs to Vance's office where he knew Gibbs was. Currently their fearless leader was in the middle of an argument with Vance."

"Boss. It's not her." spoke Tony opening Vance's door.

"DiNozzo." muttered Vance. "You could have at least knocked."

"Sorry but as you pointed out director unless we can confirm that Elise is still alive then you weren't going to rescue her! She's alive because that body we've got in the freezer downstairs is not her."

"And how do you know that?" asked Vance.

Gibbs shot Tony a look. "Because Elise's appendix burst when she was twelve. I remember. It scared the hell out of me. And when she woke up..."

Vance sighed. "Gibbs I hope you've a plan."

Gibbs smiled. "Wait downstairs Tony. Thanks for telling me. Good work."

Tony smiled at the praise before rushing out.

"You think that we can get her out of there without them killing or using her as hostage."

"I promise you that I will Leon."

"Get your team sorted!" ordered Vance. "Feel free to make use of M-TAC."

"I won't need M-TAC." smiled Gibbs before making his way out of the office.

TBC

* * *

Thanks to Smush68 and all the people who alerted and favourited.


	10. Chapter 9

As the team discussed a plan in the bullpen, Abby approached Gibbs and she was not in her usual bubbly mood which told them all something was wrong. "Gibbs, can I talk to you in private, please?"

Gibbs could tell from the look on her face that it was important and he followed her down to her lab. "What's up Abbs?" he asked.

"I was umm…looking through Burley's emails to the CIA agent guy West. "Well West had supplied information to Burley to sell to outside people. Witness protection programmes were one of them. Well he had access to NIS' and well…He sold information to Pedro Hernandez. Burley and West…"

"Information on a witness protection programme…He sold the information about…" He couldn't finish. "_Shannon and Kelly."_

"I thought it really weird how Elise' death was faked after a car crash and I ran her DNA through the system…It matches yours Gibbs."

Gibbs' eyes widened.

"Mine?"

Abby showed him on the screen. "It's possible that Elise is Kelly, Gibbs!"

Abby turned around and Gibbs was gone.

"DiNozzo, Ziva, McGee, tell me you've got something!"

"I was figuring I could sneak into the building as a scientist." McGee swallowed, Gibbs was infuriated.

"Ziva and I were going to go mercenary that would give us access to weapons and probably the building."

"Gibbs!" a voice spoke. "I've got a team of willing marines who are offering to give you a hand in your mission."

They turned around to see Vance. "Leon." nodded Gibbs.

* * *

Elise rocked herself backwards and forwards with her eyes closed as she hummed 'Luck be a lady tonight'. It was one of Tony's favourite songs. _"OK Elise, you've still got that crush on Tony and it's gotten a million times worse but there is nothing you can do about it…He's even more handsome now than he was. I can't do with this…I am going absolutely crazy. He's meant to be my brother…Oh wait I screwed up and told him to piss of didn't I?" _

"Elise!" sang Burley.

"_Go away please I am fantasizing about Anthony DiNozzo even though I shouldn't be!"_

"You look deep in thought. Care to share?"

"Not for your ears." she replied. _"It shouldn't even be in my mind but who cares I am going to die soon. What if I gave him the wrong code?" _

"I want a word with her Carmine!" West spoke, before approaching the bars of the cell.

"Oh well. I have to go to my office. That new scientist McGee thinks he's found some miraculous new formula."

"_McGee? Could it be?"_

West frowned in thought but shrugged off the name. Elise swallowed a bit. When Burley was gone West began to speak. "Since you came to the CIA all I had to do was massive amounts of paper work."

"Point being?"

"You're a good agent and if you give me the FUSIA code I will promise to let you go alive so you can continue being a good agent."

"If not?"

"Then this is going to continue on forever, Elise."

An alarm suddenly went off and Elise had to cover her ears. "What the hell?" West asked. "What's going on?"

Gibbs began making his way to the underground floor where the cells were. "Hey you!" a mercenary shouted, ready to shoot. Gibbs shot him first. Tony was with him. Ziva and McGee had gone to take on Burley while the group of marines helped handle the mercenaries.

"So, Timothy your name is? That seems familiar." spoke Burley.

"Excuse me sir, but I must see Timothy!" Ziva smiled before grabbing him. "I just need him for a technical thing with my computer."

"Who are you?"

"I work for you." smiled Ziva. "You do have female mercs."

"What's wrong with your computer?" McGee asked, turning to her so he could remove his gun.

Ziva removed her knife from her waist. "Oh it's cutting in and out. You look extremely handsome today? Coffee?"

"Well…"

They heard a gun click and suddenly an alarm went off. "Nice try special agent's Ziva David and Timothy McGee."

Burley went to shoot McGee but Ziva threw her knife at him, hitting him in the neck. "You alright Tim?"

It was rare that she called him Tim. "Yeah fine Ziva. You?"

Ziva nodded. "You should do your computer thing now where you download his stuff."

McGee nodded and made his way over to Burley's computers.

"You can come with me!" shouted West, before opening the cell. "NCIS have obviously interfered and I'll need you as leverage."

He pulled Elise out by the hair and she tried not to yelp. She felt a gun at her head. "Move!"

"Even if you kill me they're going to take you down. Don't underestimate Anthony DiNozzo and his boss."

"Anthony DiNozzo is going to die, if he tries anything."

Elise suddenly felt anger arise in her but also somewhat of a motivation to fight. She would never fight for herself but for an ally, a friend – someone she really cared about – then she would. She spun around and grabbed the gun from West's hands. He quickly knocked it out of hers and onto the ground.

He went to hit her but she dodged. It was painful fighting with her wounds, but she was too angry and protective not to. She went to strike West but he blocked it and went to attack her, to which she blocked.

"Glad to see you've still not lost your skills after all those months of torture." commented West.

"Don't underestimate a marine." Elise replied. He knocked her to the ground but she got back and struck him in the face, and then the jugular. But she slipped as he fell to the ground and then the struggle began as the both went for the gun on the floor at the same time.

West got to it first and pointed it at Elise. "You know what I bet Burley is already dead which means there is no need to keep you alive anymore."

He began to pull the trigger and soon the sound of a gunshot echoed through the holding cells.

TBC


	11. Chapter 10

Elise prepared herself to take the bullet and she held her breath. She heard the gunshot and expected to feel pain any moment, but she felt nothing and she suddenly realised that it was not West that fired when he fell to the ground and lost all signs of being alive. She looked to see who fired, and saw both Gibbs and Tony holding guns. It was Tony that fired, however.

She stood up and looked at them with her usual brave face, and gave them a nod. Tony walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "You OK?" he asked.

She nodded and then collapsed. Tony caught her and held her up. "You need stay off the bourbon Elise."

She laughed.

Gibbs swallowed and looked at her eyes. They were Shannon's shade of blue, now that he thought about it. He cursed himself mentally for not noticing it before, but he'd not been paying attention to her. That made him angry with himself, and he was angry at himself because his daughter had been treated so horribly

Tony supported her as they began to walk out of the holding cells, the whole time Gibbs remained silent. "Watch your step there is a wall there." Tony quipped.

Elise was ready for wincing with the pain but she kept on going, aided by Tony. When they were finally out she had been seen by a medic to get her wounds dealt with and afterwards it was back to NCIS headquarters. As soon as she got out of the elevator Abby walked over to her and put her arms around her. "Welcome back Giblet!" she said with a smile.

"Giblet?" the team asked in unison, except Gibbs. Elise looked on confused.

"Well didn't Gibbs tell you it's his daughter…"

"Abby." Gibbs uttered.

"You didn't tell them?" she asked surprised.

"I do not fully understand." Elise spoke.

"Neither do we Abbs." spoke Tony.

Gibbs walked away suddenly and into the men's room while Abby explained. "I am sorry, but I don't understand both my parents…both of them died."

"It was set up with West and Burley after all…" began Abby.

Elise recalled Gibbs' reaction in her head and swallowed and sighed. "I do not need another father."

"But he's not another father he is the same one. Don't you remember anything about him?" Abby asked.

"I can't…"

Elise began to limp away and Tony went to go after her but Ziva stopped. "She's confused, and she needs time. As does Gibbs."

Tony swallowed.

* * *

Gibbs splashed cold water over his face as he shook his head in the mirror. He had his teeth clenched and he was angry – mainly at himself. He slammed his fist on the surface of the sink – not at all worried about any damage he may have caused it or himself.

He stormed out of the toilets and then through the squad room where his team watched him from their desk, and to the elevator. He was going to need more than coffee.

When he got home he poured himself a jar of bourbon in his basement before drinking some of it. Then he grabbed a shovel from the basement and went outside to get Kelly's time capsule – grateful that the snow had melted away a hours before. A couple of hours passed and it was passed midnight, and then he heard footsteps coming down into his basement. It was Ducky. "Jethro I hope you do not mind, but I did not figure you would be sleeping. I had to deal with some things back at autopsy. I heard about Elise…"

"Yeah so did I." Gibbs replied with a sigh.

"How do you feel about this revelation?"

Gibbs looked up at Ducky with his usual questioning stare.

"You've just found out that Kelly is alive, Jethro."

"She has Shannon's eyes." Gibbs stated.

"Why don't you speak to her she is obviously as confused as you are and Jethro you're what she is needing; a father to look up to."

"How can she looked up to a father who let her go to a foster home where her adopted father used her as a punch bag for stupid mistakes!"

"You cannot blame yourself Jethro. Her fate was tragic, yes but it was not your fault. The important thing is you have a chance to make things right for yourself and for her. She needs **somebody** Jethro! And as charming and kind as Tony is he's not enough."

"Only DiNozzo could go to the same school as my daughter." Gibbs commented.

Ducky saw the time capsule/lunch box on the table. "Jethro, there is no point looking back on the past. Yes it had made us who we are but Elise does not remember Kelly at all, and all she can see is the present and right now it's very dismal for her."

Gibbs looked up to Ducky and let out an angry and frustrated sigh.

* * *

Elise sat in her apartment and looked around. There were still boxes unopened from when she'd moved in. She felt much better since coming back. She had washed her hair and cleaned herself up. She sighed and looked at the clock. It was past midnight and still her emotions and thoughts were confused, and it was killing her.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and she jumped. She grabbed her gun from the coffee table and walked over to it before looking through the door's view hole. She breathed a sigh of relief to see Tony. She opened the door. "Hey I figured that I should check on you and see how you are doing…Wow is that an LCD screen you've got there?"

He walked into the apartment without Elise saying a word and sat on her sofa to turn her thirty inch wall mounted television on. "This is gorgeous definition. Oh look It's a wonderful life is on! Mind if I stay and watch it?"

Elise was not going to say no. She just closed the door and locked it. "I'll take that as a yes, or are you going to kill me or something?"

"Believe me if I wanted to I couldn't." Elise replied, before sitting in the arm chair furthest away from him. She felt that getting too close to him would be a bad thing. Even as she tried to stop herself from doing it, she couldn't help but stare at Tony and think of how handsome he was.

"You OK?" Tony asked her.

"Yes."

"Abby says…"

"Yeah I know what Abby said." Elise replied. "But I do not need to burden Gibbs. You saw how he reacted when Abby blurted out the discovery. I do not want him to feel uncomfortable."

"I think he just needs time. Boss is a complicated man. At least it explains why you could do the Gibbs stare without faltering."

Elise stood up. "I can't be Gibbs' daughter. We're two completely different people Tony."

Tony didn't know how to reply to that statement. Instead he turned around to her and announced he was leaving. "It's late and I should be going."

"Stay and watch your movie if you want. I think I have some food in the fridge. Merry Christmas by the way."

"Merry Christmas, Elise." Tony spoke. "But I can't stay."

He walked to the door and Elise called him back, before walking over and hugging him. "Thanks. I let you down and yet you still didn't stop until you found me. I owe you one Tony. I'm sorry."

"Just, do one thing for me."

"What?"

"Come to Ducky's for Christmas dinner tomorrow."

"I would but I would be intruding…"

"Ducky asked me to ask you and I'll come and pick you up since you're car has been dissected by Abby."

"Yeah, my poor car."

"How did you get down here it's quite a bit away from NCIS."

"Well, Nathan gave me a ride back."

"Oh. Well that was nice of him!" Tony replied animatedly.

"It was wasn't it?" replied Elise.

"Did you tell Nathan about what you found out?"

"No."

Tony pulled her a piece of long hair covering Elise's eyes to behind her ear. "It was hiding your eyes and you might trip over something in the dark if you couldn't see." he explained right away.

Elise laughed. "Phone me when you're coming to pick me up and…"

"I haven't got your number."

"Oh no you haven't umm…it's…Wait I've lost my cell. I forgot."

"How about I just pick you up at five?"

"Yeah fine. Thank you."

Tony left and Elise closed and locked the door before walking over to the coffee table to get the remote to turn off the television.

* * *

It was eleven am and Gibbs was still sitting in his basement thinking. Then he heard footsteps coming down the basement stairs and he looked up to see Elise. He swallowed. "I know it's apparently against rule six to apologise but I would still like to say sorry for coming in un-announced but I tried knocking. I just came to say that I do not ask for anything from you. You have no obligation to me. I am sorry if…"

"Sit down." Gibbs said quietly.

She did as he said and she sat across from him. He handed her over the time capsule. "Do you recognise that?"

"Yeah, it's the lunchbox that I have never seen before but I constantly had dreams about it as a kid. It was weird. I used to dream of going to a regular high school and….Sorry. It was just there."

She stood up and went to leave.

"I owe Elise Bennet an apology for the way I acted. I was angry because your placement on my team was forced on me, and I took it out on you."

"You have nothing to apologise for you. You came and saved me. You were the team that didn't abandon me and I thank you for that."

"As for Kelly I thought that I had lost you a long time ago and because I thought that you had the worst life ever because of me…"

"Do not blame yourself, because I don't!"

"You were wrong." Gibbs suddenly said.

"About what?"

"I do have an obligation to you and it's twenty years late."

He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. Elise had never been given such kindness and tears began to flow down her face, before Gibbs pulled her into a hug.

* * *

"Hey Ducky." Abby greeted him giddily with a big hug. She quickly broke out of it and began moving around the kitchen with glee. Then she knocked over one of his glasses. "Sorry Ducky. I'll clean that up." she said, before beginning to look for a brush to clean it up. In fear that a hyper Abby would knock over more breakables, Ducky intervened. "It's quite alright, my lotus blossom. Just go and sit down in the living room."

"Is Gibbs here?"

"Not yet."

"Did you talk to him?"

"I did."

"What did he say?"

"Not much."

Abby turned around and walked into the living room to find Ziva and McGee. She hugged both of them and wished them a Merry Christmas.

"The snow melted away this morning. Do you think that we'll get more?" Abby asked Ziva and McGee.

"Maybe." Ziva replied.

It was only when Gibbs, Tony and Elise came into the living room did Abby's attention turn. She ran up and hugged Tony, then Gibbs and then Elise.

"You have your hair down today." Ziva said to Elise from the sofa. "It suits you better that way."

"Thank you." Elise smiled politely.

"Are you Elise now or Kelly?" McGee asked.

"She's Giblet." Abby replied on Elise's behalf.

"I would just like to get through today before I have to over think things."

"Here dear, allow me to take your coat." Ducky offered. Elise took it off and handed it to him. "How are you feeling now?"

"I am fine." Elise replied.

Tony put his hand on Elise's forehead. "Just checking if you have a fever."

"Why?"

"You're being polite and I thought you might be ill."

Gibbs head slapped him.

Tony just forced a smile. "Best Christmas present anyone can ask for."

Elise just shook her head at him. _"That's why you're so brilliant Tony. You can always smile." she thought. _

The NCIS family spent the rest of Christmas together, having Christmas dinner, making jokes, and watching movies of Tony's suggestion, while the whole time Tony and Elise kept on stealing secret glances at one another.

"_She's the boss's daughter I shouldn't be staring at her."_

"_Rule twelve says never date a co-worker and Tony would never like me that way anyway. But I can't stop staring…Stop it Elise!"_

"You OK?" Gibbs asked when she face palmed herself.

"Yes!" she answered quickly. "I just got confused with something and…"

Gibbs laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing; do you know you like your mum with your hair down like that? Only Shannon's was red."

Elise bowed her head not knowing how to reply.

"I get it." Gibbs said.

"What?"

"That you're confused."

"A lot is just going on in here." she replied pointing to her head. "Everything has just happened at once and I just don't know how to deal with what."

"Yeah." Gibbs sighed.

"Guys! Guys! Guys! It's snowing!" Abby said cheerfully.

"Where does she get her energy?" Elise asked Gibbs.

"I do not know but I know it's escalated by the amount of Caf-Pow I buy her."

"Tony we need to have a snowball fight!" Abby continued. "McGee you too! So will you Ziva…"

"Abbs." Gibbs spoke. "It'll take a while to build up…"

"But Gibbs it's falling heavy…"

Everyone went up to the window to see it. "So it is." McGee uttered.

"There is no way that any of us will be able to walk in that, never mind drive."

"Then you'll have to stay here. This reminds of a time when I was back in Scotland and the snow is generally common and…"

Gibbs turned to Ducky and drew him a look.

"So we're all having a sleepover?" Abby asked. "This is going to be so fun…Oh but I forgot Bert!"

"Abby take it easy!" McGee tried to calm her down.

"I am sure it will not be too bad." Elise said.

"Shame, I had plans for when I got back to my apartment. Now I am stuck in here with all you boring people." Tony commented.

Gibbs drew Tony a look. "Well I didn't mean that you're all boring as in boring I just meant…Shutting up boss."

"Why don't we play a game to occupy us?" suggested Abby.

"Or watch a movie?" suggested Tony.

"Or we could just read some books." Ziva suggested.

"Do you have a chessboard Dr Mallard?" asked Elise.

"Ducky is fine and yes I do." Ducky replied. "Do you play?"

"Yes she won awards at…" began Tony.

"Yeah it was nothing." Elise replied drawing Tony a look. Her adopted father had broken them in temper once and she didn't want to remember it.

"I used to play with an Edinburgh professor and he had this very bad habit of putting the bishops next to the rooks instead of the knights. He was a sensational player but he could never arrange the board properly."

Everyone laughed and then decided to watch **another **movie while Ducky and Elise played chess. Gibbs couldn't help but give one of his famous half smiles, when he looked around at his family: Tony, Ziva, Timothy, Abby, Ducky and now Elise.

He nodded to himself and then picked up a glass of already poured bourbon. _"Thanks Shannon." _

TBC

A/N I get that everyone is probably OOC. Especially Gibbs. Sorry guys but thanks to

Smush68

DS2010


	12. Chapter 11

It was the second of January in the New Year when everyone got back to work. As soon as Elise got there she was pulled into the director's office making the tam wonder what was going on.

"Wonder what is happening." McGee spoke.

"Perhaps the director just has some things to wrap up." Ziva suggested.

"Perhaps you should all mind your own business." Gibbs said before Tony could offer his suggestion.

The team shrugged and stared into space for a while until Gibbs barked at them. "Don't you have paper work to do?"

"On it boss." Tony responded.

"Yes Gibbs." Ziva nodded.

"Right." McGee replied.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, before sitting down as everyone got on with their paper work. He noticed that Tony was continuing to take glances at the stairs leading to the director's office.

Then out of nowhere appeared Abby. "Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Where is Giblet!"

"What is it, Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh I just came to tell her car is OK now and that…well umm…here is her phone. Where is she?"

Gibbs took Elise's phone from Abby. "She's upstairs with the director."

Abby looked up to the staircase to see her coming. She began making her way downstairs with her usual emotionless but business like profession. When she got to the bullpen she walked to her desk and picked up the few belongings she had on it. Everyone looked up.

"You're leaving?" Tony asked.

"No. The director rushed my probation period through. I am Special Agent."

"Where are you going?" Ziva asked.

"Here apparently." Elise said as she moved to the desk behind Ziva's wall. She stood up and looked over. "Apparently I have gotten the position that A Christopher Pacci had."

Gibbs swallowed. He still felt guilty over Pacci's death. "We didn't get a replacement for Pacci before." McGee spoke.

"Vance thinks it best." Elise explained. "I get to work by myself. Although he recommends that I have on partner. Which is probably not a good idea considering how anti-social that I am.

"What happened to working with us?" Tony asked. He was going to find it hard to stare at her from his desk now.

"He thinks it best I don't. I don't know. I am following orders. It's really intriguing though I am going to have my own name plate for the desk."

"Here's your phone." Abby said, before taking it from Gibbs and handing it over the wall. "And your car keys."

"Thanks."

"Your car is fixed now too."

"Thanks." Elise replied before sitting down and organising her desk.

Suddenly Gibbs' desk phone rang and he answered it. When he got off the phone he called to his team. "Gear up we've got a dead marine. Quantico."

Everybody grabbed their gear and followed Gibbs to the elevator. Tony watch as Elise walked over to Abby.

"_She's the boss' daughter. I can't! But it's not my fault she's so freaking hot!"_

"So…That chess game?" Abby said as she raised her eyebrows.

"Later Abby." replied Elise. "I think I am going to get some coffee."

* * *

Tony began taking photos of the crime scene. "Strand of fibre from someone's hair. Blonde maybe?" he pointed out.

"It doesn't match the victim's hair colour. Petty officer Turner had black hair." Ziva pointed out.

"Bag and tag it, David!" ordered Gibbs.

"Yes Gibbs." she nodded.

* * *

When Elise came back from her coffee break she was taken into her polygraph test, and afterwards she walked back upstairs to her desk. At that moment, team Gibbs were back and making their way back to their desks. Tony couldn't help but look at Elise who was typing away on her computer.

The director's secretary came down an hour and a half later as Gibbs' team continued their investigation. She walked over to Elise and handed her a file. "The director told me to give this to you."

She looked at the director's secretary with a stare that said 'go on'. "It's a case. You're needed in Walla. Walla."

Elise began to read the file. It was on a man named Hamish Tyler. He had been convicted on espionage with intention to pass on information to a leader, but he'd never divulged the leader's information. He murdered three people and had been responsible for a bomb attack on a naval ship. Now he wanted to see an NCIS agent. "It says here that he wanted to see Gibbs…dad….Gibbs…Agent on the paper in here."

"Gibbs is unavailable he's doing a case right now. You're case now. Director says."

Elise threw her coat on and took the file with her, along with her phone.

At his desk, Tony looked at Elise leaving, a bit disappointed that her coat was hiding her figure.

"I think I've got something boss." Tony said before standing up and loading the plasma. "Petty officer Turner was caught on CCTV, which I was kindly shown by McSpy here, having a little bit of…dare I say it?... A cat fight with fellow petty officer Lydia Hooper."

"Take McGee with you and have a talk with her."

"Sure thing boss."

"I found Petty Officer Lydia's only living relative. Her mother. She stays in Georgetown."

"You're with me Ziva."

Ziva got ready and followed Gibbs.

* * *

"In here." a jail guard directed Elise. Elise opened the door and stepped into an interrogation room.

"Hamish Tyler, I am special agent Elise Bennet. You wanted to see an NCIS agent. You have something for us?"

"I would shake hands with you but I am in handcuffs as you can see." spoke Tyler in a sadistically forced-charming voice.

Elise sat down in front of him and crossed her hands on the table. "You were responsible for the deaths of twenty marines on that naval ship that got attacked and you got charged on pre-meditated murder one NCIS agents and two FBI agents. Am I right? Then there is the espionage…"

"I know all about my history Special Agent Elise Bennet. Tell me where is Gibbs."

"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is unavailable. You've got me instead."

"I'm not complaining." he replied as she smiled at Elise.

"Why did you want to see Special Agent Gibbs?"

"They wanted to know who my 'superior' was."

"Superior?"

"They think I had a leader. He was more my regular customer if you get what I mean." laughed Tyler.

"Oh my goodness I am sorry was that meant to be joke? I'm sorry I didn't laugh it must because I had no idea what was so funny about selling information that costs marines their life!" Elise spoke, raising her voice.

She drew Tyler a look and he swallowed. "You stare the way he did!"

"Who?"

"Leroy…"

"I mean who was your customer?"

"You seem to not understand the concept of me bringing you here."

Playing it his way she asked "Why did you bring me here, Mr Tyler?"

"There is going to be a bomb and it's going to go off. Boom!"

Elise was fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "Where?"

"That's the fun bit you won't know. You get me freedom and I'll tell you where."

"You'll be lucky to get taken off of death row."

"Who has planted this bomb?"

"My favourite customer."

"Right. Well I will naturally have to speak to my director. When did you speak to your 'customer'?"

"If I told you that I would be playing fair."

"Fine."

She left interrogation room to find Tobias. "Stand down Elise, we're taking over."

"We're?"

Tobias moved his head in a backwards direction. Elise looked on to see Nathan coming. "Tobias you know that I can't just let you take over my case and he's not wanting to do a deal with anyone else."

"We can't let that scumbag out, Elise what the hell are you thinking?" Tobias asked.

"Who said anything about be letting him out?" she replied before walking to the elevator exit. Tobias changed his mind about Tyler and followed after her. Nathan sighed and followed Tobias.

"Since when did you become an FBI boy then?" teased Elise.

"How are you?" he asked, avoiding the question.

"I am good."

"You look different. In fact you're a lot more attractive since you let your hair down."

"Nathan this has got to stop. It has gone on since I met you."

"It'll stop if you let me buy you dinner or something. What do you say?"

Elise was about to answer but Tobias butted in. "Could you two take your sexual tension somewhere else?" Tobias asked.

Elise and Nathan shrugged and then went into the elevator with Tobias. "By the way Tobias. My case, my lead." Elise spoke.

Tobias sighed. "Figures."

TBC


	13. Chapter 12

One Day Later

"It was the secret boyfriend. Should have known it was the secret boyfriend." Tony said on the way to the elevator with Ziva.

"I hate it when you're right." Ziva spoke.

"You must hate 'it' a lot because I am always right Ziva."

"You wish Tony." Ziva replied. "Did you notice that Tobias has been in the building lately, working with Elise."

"It was not difficult to notice they left the elevator together yesterday, with that Smith guy."

"What do you suppose they are investigating?" Ziva asked.

"It's none of our business."

"Oh!"

"What?"

"None of our business; Tony you hate that phrase."

"I just think that if Elise does not want to share information with us then she is entitled not to."

Ziva was gobsmacked and silenced as the elevator made its way up. However it stopped and the topic of their discussion came into the elevator holding a file. Tony however had lied to Ziva and he memorised the serial number on the file.

"So how is your investigation going on guys?" Elise asked, them.

"Solved it." Tony smiled.

"Good for you."

"How is yours going?" Ziva asked.

"Step by step we're getting there."

The elevator stopped in the squad room and they made their way to their desks. Tony couldn't help but look on at Smith with a certain look of jealousy in his eyes as the ex-CIA agent immediately hung over Elise to look at the file.

"_She's the boss's daughter!"_

Suddenly he head-slapped himself, and McGee looked at him questioningly. "You okay, Tony?"

"Yes I'm fine McCurious." Tony replied. As soon as he sat down at his computer he typed in the file number he'd saw. When he saw Hamish Tyler's record he frowned and then looked over to Elise. _"What has that son of a bitch done now?" Tony thought. _He resented Tyler, because he tried to kill Gibbs.

Then Gibbs came into the bullpen. "What are you doing waiting around here? Don't you guys have homes to go to?"

Everyone began packing up except Tony. "Aren't you going home DiNozzo?"

"I have some paper work to do."

When everyone was gone - except Tony - Elise made her way up to the plasma and switched it on. "Tyler had a lot of buyers, but there was no buyer behind the attack on the naval ship. It was purely him and before he did it, he set up another secure email to make it look as if he had one."

"Why?"

"Are you just stupid, Nathan or are you messing with me? He needed that story though to make NCIS and the FBI think that he had a major buyer so that he'd have bargaining tools when it came to death row. He knew that NCIS were coming for him."

"And the bomb?"

Elise breathed in through her teeth and rubbed the back of her neck. She walked to the elevator. "Go home." she called to Nathan. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Nathan left shortly and Tony took his chance to go and search Elise's desk for the file. Inside the desk he found a drawing pad opened to a page with a drawing of a horse, on it. _"She was always good at art…and building things. I remember the Ferrari chess board."_

Suddenly he felt himself being head slapped. "Don't think I did not see you looking at the file in the elevator Tony or the fact that you were 'doing paperwork'."

He turned around to see Elise. "But you left!"

"I got off at the floor below and took the stairs back up."

She took the drawing pad out of Tony's hand and turned the page to show a shaded drawing of a Ferrari. "I was figuring if you wanted you could put that on your wall."

Tony held it in his hands. "OK I get it but where is the actual car that you drew the portrait from?" Tony asked with a smile. "You sly thing, keeping that hidden from me."

"You got me Tony." Elise replied before showing a photo of a Ferrari on her computer. "What amazes me is you still didn't see that I was logged on."

She shut it down and then grabbed her things. "Shall I walk you into the elevator Tony?"

"Tyler is bad news, Elise."

"Go figure." she replied sarcastically.

The two left to the car park, Elise taking the case file with her. "Listen if you the help of someone with experience…" began Tony offering help with the case.

"Well if I ever need the sex talk I will be sure to come to you."

The elevator doors opened and Tony was left gobsmacked. "Is that you saying I'm a professional or are you just saying…"

"Good night Tony."

* * *

His eyes darted to her ass and he head slapped himself for doing so. _"You're going to hell one day Tony." _

Gibbs was down in his basement fixing a new shelf when he heard footsteps on the staircase. "Hey Kelly, I was expecting you sooner."

When he looked up it wasn't Kelly/Elise but Tobias. "Tobias, I saw you creeping around the naval base."

"I am on an investigation with Elise. Wait a minute did you say hey Kelly? Who is Kelly?"

"Elise."

"What?"

"You need to get in the loop. So what are you and my daughter investigating."

"If you're daughter is Elise…" he cut himself off before continuing. "Hamish Tyler."

"What does that bastard want?"

"He got in touch with NCIS. Says he was going to tell us his client's name, if we got him off death row and more preferably freedom."

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"I don't know Gibbs."

There was the sound of footsteps on the staircase again. "Oh, Tobias you're here. I was going to call you. Tyler had no major client. He set it up so he'd have a get out of jail card or rather get out of death row."

They looked up to see Elise. "So there is no client?"

"No. That's how no one could find anything." replied Elise.

Gibbs was remaining silent, wondering when Elise would remember where she was.

"What about the bomb?"

"That's his only get out of jail free card left and to be frank I don't think there is one, but we can't take the chance."

Gibbs walked over and took the file out of her hands. "Or I could try talking to him."

"Oh…"

"Why wasn't I told about Tyler?"

"Well…because the director said you were busy."

"Why are you here?" Gibbs asked.

"One to continue doing my chessboard which I am making for Abby and secondly because I need to ask for your advice."

"I'm giving you my advice let me talk to him."

"But you're playing into what he wants."

"Which will lead him on a false sense of security."

She couldn't argue and she nodded. "Any protests on your part Tobias?"

"If I did he wouldn't care." Tobias replied.

"Fine tomorrow we'll go to Walla, Walla."

"No tomorrow he comes to the Naval Base."

"Special Agent Gibbs and here I was expecting that sexy chick they sent to see me before."

Gibbs sat down and drew Tyler daggers. "Well I kept on saying I want Special Agent Gibbs, to them, but not they send out…what is her name? Bennet."

"_Won't be like that for long." Gibbs thought. _Then he decided to spook Tyler out a bit. "I am sorry you had to cope with the next best thing to me, which was my daughter."

"What? That chick was your daughter? Shit that explains why she kept on looking me with that weird ass look that you keep drawing me now. Sorry for the compliment I gave her earlier."

"_Yeah you will be." Gibbs thought. _

Gibbs laughed. "Well she's used to it by now."

"Bet she was a heart breaker."

Gibbs shrugged. "I know and I also know that you've not got a big top secret and major client."

His tone was more serious now and when Tyler heard Gibbs break the news to what they had found, Tyler swallowed and his face was absolutely horrified.

"We also know where the bomb is."

Tyler's face lit up. "No you don't!" he sang.

"No because there is no bomb is there Tyler? You set up some big plan with a backup story, only it backfired. Enjoy your last two months on death row."

Gibbs made his way out of interrogation and exchanged a look with Tobias. "DiNozzo told me the news about Elise. Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, Tobias…" Gibbs began. "I wouldn't be surprised at anything DiNozzo told me either."

* * *

It was seven o'clock when Elise wrapped up the case. She sighed and looked up. Tony was still there and he was actually doing paperwork to her surprise. "Hey." she smiled, peering over the wall. "I see you've got your drawing up. Maybe next time I can draw you standing next to one and you can tell pretty girls that you had someone do a portrait while you were standing next to your Ferrari."

Tony smiled as Elise made her way to his desk. "I was wondering, if maybe once I've finished this last piece of paper off if you wanted to…"

Elise's phone rang. "Hold that thought." she smiled. "Hello…Nathan hi…You know what yes. I'll meet you tomorrow at seven…Bye."

"Who was that?" Tony asked, acting oblivious.

"Nathan."

"Oh. You going to work together on another case?"

"No. He asked me to dinner."

"Oh." Tony nodded. "That's good. Finally get out there."

"So what did you want to ask me?"

"Oh…Would you ummm…spell check my file?"

Elise laughed and took it off of Tony. "Of course I will. Give you it tomorrow?"

"Sure." Tony smiled. "Thanks Giblet."

"Night Tony."

"Night."

TBC


	14. Chapter 13

19:00 The Next Day

Elise had just finished getting ready to go out when her cell phone rang. "Hello." she answered. She waited on the response at the other end and listened. "Hey it's alright don't worry about it. Well good luck with the case."

She ended the phone call and sighed. "_This is why I never ever wanted a relationship. Men never keep on schedule. Face it Elise, you were only saying yes to dinner to try and forget Tony who you really should stop fantasising about because one he'll never like you in a million years and two he's your long lost father's senior field agent."_

Her phone rang again and she looked at the caller ID. "Speak of the senior field agent…"

She answered it with a simple greeting of "Speak."

"You seem touchy. I just wanted to phone you and say thanks for spell checking my paperwork for me, before you went out on your date."

"What date?"

"The one you were going on."

"One it was dinner Tony and two it's cancelled."

"So you're free now?"

"Yeah."

"Good because I've two tickets to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I'll come pick you up. No arguments now."

"Well…if I am not causing any trouble. It's been a long time since I've been to the movies and…"

"Say no more. I'll pick you up no buts."

"Tony…" began Elise but he'd already hung up.

Elise looked at herself in the mirror to make sure she was presentable and then she face palmed herself. "_It's not a date it's Tony being nice and taking pity on you. Nothing else so there isn't any point worrying about how you look, because you never even worried for Nathan who really did ask you on a date. But you told Tony it was only dinner. I am such an idiot." _

She waited half an hour and then Tony came and then she remained silent while Tony talked about the old TV series of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

"So, he cancelled huh?" Tony asked eventually changing the subject from films and TV to Nathan.

"Yeah, he had things to do at the FBI."

"I am sure!" Tony replied animatedly.

She drew him a funny look. "What?" Tony asked.

"Nothing, I just don't understand how you are always smiling and being giddy. It must take up a lot of energy."

"Well I've never been asked that before. You always have to think up complicated questions don't you?"

"It's a simple answer is it tiring being so happy all the time or…"

"No. It's just me."

"Yeah well that I figured out."

Tony parked the car just a bit away from the cinemas and they began making their way up. "I asked Abby if she wanted to come but she was bowling with the nuns, McGee had his sister over, and Ziva is…God knows."

"She used to be Mossad, right?"

"Yeah."

"Her name is familiar to the director…"

"Her father, what a nice guy he is!"

They went in and paid for the tickets and then began to wait in line. "So have you ever met Eli David?"

"Oh yeah, and he was so hospitable." Tony replied.

"You're mocking me now aren't you?"

"Not you, Giblet I am mocking Eli David and Mossad."

She went silent as Tony began looking at and talking about old film posters. "Maltese Falcon was a classic."

"Yeah."

"What was your favourite film from the eighties?" Tony asked.

"Lethal Weapon." she replied with a smile.

"Mel Gibson, and Danny Glover. In the second film you've got Joe Pesci as Leo Getz. What about My Cousin Vinnie, have you seen it?"

"Yes."

"Another classic…" began Tony.

"Oh look time to go in."

"I know what you're thinking there is a time and a place for each movie."

"Of course." she replied with a friendly smile.

* * *

May 12th 2012 (five months later)

"I can't get DiNozzo at all boss." McGee spoke.

"Excuse me." a voice spoke before Gibbs could reply. They all turned around to see Probationary Agent Sloan, who was working with Elise.

"What?" Gibbs asked losing his patience.

"I can't get a hold of Special Agent Bennet and she asked me to get a hold of a list of phone calls for her."

Gibbs' eyebrows frowned. "Elise is missing too?" Ziva asked.

"McGee trace their phones."

"On it boss."

* * *

Two hours earlier

"This is a nice hotel." Elise spoke to Tony.

"Yeah it is."

"Tony, are you up for a game of poker?" someone shouted from across the room.

"In a minute, Dominic." Tony shouted back.

He turned back around to Elise. "I will be back in a minute." he said to her.

"Don't be long."

"I won't. I promise."

Before he left her, he pulled her into a kiss and his hands went to her waist. When he broke away he naturally made his way over to the poker table. "OK, who is up for losing a few thousand?"

The game went on for another hour and a half, and naturally Tony won. "Well what can I say? I am just too good for this."

Tony stood up and went to walk back over to Elise with a smile. Then Elise caught something with her eye. Before she knew it she was running towards Tony and throwing herself on top of him, while a bomb went off.

"Boss, they're both at the Hay Adams hotel."

"Both of them?" Gibbs asked.

"What do you think is going on?" Ziva asked.

"I can hazard a guess."

"What have I to do with Special Agent Bennet's files?" Sloan asked.

"She is Special Agent Gibbs for a start!" Gibbs replied. "Secondly, you can just leave them on her desk. Thirdly why have you got her phone?"

"It's not her phone it's mine. We've both got the same model."

Gibbs drew him a look.

"Don't give me that look it's scary and I've told Special Agent Benn…I mean Gibbs that."

"Boss, I am sure there is a perfectly rational explanation for why they are both at that hotel. Perhaps Tony's dad is there and he wanted to introduce Elise. As for what we've gathered they've not officially met." spoke McGee.

"I think that maybe you're overreacting…" began Ziva, until Gibbs shot her a look.

Gibbs grabbed his jacket and cell phone. "Any leads on our case, phone me!" he shouted. "You there, Sloan isn't it?"

"Yeah." Sloan replied.

"You do as **my **agents tell you until I get back."

"Yes, Special Agent…"

Gibbs was away before Sloan could finish.

"Do you think that there is anything going on between Elise and Tony?" McGee asked.

"I imagine that Tony would have let it be known if he started dating someone as beautiful as Elise." Ziva replied.

"But she's Gibbs' daughter and he's grown quite protective of her over the months."

"It's only natural." Ziva replied.

"God help Tony if there is something going on."

"We should buy flowers for his grave." Ziva replied.

"Rest in peace Anthony DiNozzo."

TBC


	15. Chapter 14

When Gibbs got to the hotel ready to give his senior field agent an ear bashing for being unreachable, he saw part of it turned to rubble, several fire engines, and several ambulances. His heart sank as he feared the worst. Someone was being taken out to an ambulance in a stretcher and he looked to see if it was his daughter, or his senior field agent. It was neither of them. He walked up to a fireman and showed his bade. "Two NCIS agents were in here, both of them are my kids have you seen them?"

"Several people in there who have survived have been taken to the hospital but there has been none with NCIS badges."

Gibbs sighed and walked into the lobby. "Excuse me…" he spoke to the receptionist.

"Look sir, we've had to evacuate most of the building…" the receptionist began to interrupt Gibbs.

Gibbs showed his badge. "Did anyone check under the name, DiNozzo here today?"

"Our last DiNozzo was an Anthony DiNozzo and he's not been here in a long while. No other DiNozzo."

"Gibbs?" asked Gibbs.

"No Gibbs."

"What about Bennet?"

"Yes an Anthony funnily enough and a Kelly."

"What room were they staying in?"

"202."

Gibbs made his way to the elevator, despite the protests from the receptionists and made his way upstairs. When he got to the room he knocked on the door to see if anyone was there and then he opened it. "Hold still, there." he heard his senior field agent. "I still think you should have went to an ambulance."

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch on the head…Tony don't I'm fine you can stop cleaning it."

"I've not even started. If it was the other way around you'd call me a baby."

"I took a big blast Tony what do you expect."

"This undercover thing has not gone well."

"No shit Tony!" Elise snapped.

"Let me see your shoulder."

"I am fine."

"It might be broken or dislocated. Let me have a look."

Tony began to feel her shoulder. "I think it's dislocated…"

"Having fun playing doctor DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked before head slapping his senior field agent.

"What was that for boss?"

"Rule 3, never be unreachable."

"It wasn't his fault." Elise spoke up wincing. Gibbs looked at his daughter. She was bloody from multiple wounds. Her dress was torn at the arms, and the blood leaked through it, from grazes. Her forehead was cut and bruised and she was holding onto her right shoulder with her left hand. Tony only had a bruise on his head. It was nothing compared to the Giblet's and Gibbs began to wonder if Elise had thrown herself on Tony to take the blast.

"You're going to the hospital, now!" Gibbs ordered.

"But dad I need to see Vance and report in. He'll be wondering what is going on."

"I will talk to Vance and let him know about the bomb." spoke Tony.

"Dominic died in the explosion, let him know that." Elise coughed.

Gibbs helped her up. "Let's get you downstairs."

Tony watched as Elise struggled to walk even with Gibbs helping her. Tony felt bad, because Elise had jumped on him to take the brunt of the bomb. He'd been enjoying the undercover work too much. Despite it being faked he enjoyed the fake moments of romantic intimacy they put on for show in front of Dominic as they were undercover as fiancées.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs called.

Tony head slapped himself. _"Boss's daughter!"_

He grabbed Elise's bag, and took it with him to give it to her.

* * *

When Tony got back to NCIS he noticed Vance was waiting on him at the banister of the stairs. Tony immediately made his way up to explain about the bomb.

"He's got a bruise on his head. Did Gibbs hit him?" Ziva asked McGee.

"I think there is more to it than that, he's gone up to the director."

McGee's phone rang. "Hello…Boss…What?...Is she OK?...I'll let Ziva know."

McGee put his phone down and looked over to Ziva. "Gibbs, phoned. The Giblet and Tony were undercover and a bomb went off."

"Explains why he's away to see the director."

"What?" a familiar scientist's voice asked. They looked up to see Abby.

"How long have you been standing there Abbs?" McGee asked.

"Long enough to hear that Tony and Giblet are hurt and that's…they could have…"

"It's OK Abby." Ziva assured. "Gibbs is with Elise and Tony is with the director."

Half an hour later, when Tony came down from the director's office Abby jumped into his arms. "Tony, Tony, Tony. I was worried. Are you OK? Don't scare me like that again."

"Hey Abbs."

When Abby finally let go of him. "Alright, as senior field agent I am in charge until Gibbs get back. McGee, what ya got?"

"Well I found a list of emails from the Colonel White's inbox, from someone called anonymous and the emails were pretty strong advances at first and then they got threatening."

"Plasma." Tony ordered.

* * *

"Who is this Dominic?" Gibbs asked Elise at the hospital as he handed her a cup of coffee.

"Sec Nav came to the director. Dominic has an inside man at NCIS that he doesn't know the identity of his mole, but they intercepted an email to him, and de-encrypted it. They can't find out who he is. So we figured that Tony could play it off as the inside man but the bomb went off before we could get close. But Dominic had enemies."

"Surname?" Gibbs asked.

"Dominic Baldwin.

"And you're trying to find out what he was sending to this mole?"

"Yeah. Then perhaps we could find out who the mole was and we'd know how much information had been passed on. But whoever, left that bomb must have been targeting Baldwin. It's either another enemy or the mole and I recognised no one there from NCIS or…" she can began to shake her head and she went to head slap herself with her good arm but Gibbs stopped her.

"Hey! You don't slap yourself. Have I ever slapped you?"

"No."

"Then don't you do it."

"But I am acting stupid and…call myself a marine and I am in the hospital for a dislocated shoulder and I am probably going to wait hours more just to get it put back in place."

She began rubbing her ribs. "Did you hurt your ribs too?"

"No there in pain for some other reason." she replied sarcastically. Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

"I am just sick of it I had five months of everything going OK and I let my guard down and guess what Tony almost got killed."

"You did too. In fact you're off worse. What happened?"

"I saw the bomb under the table. Like it had been just left there but it wasn't there when I came in and then Tony was coming towards me and he was getting closer to it so I ran and knocked him to the ground and I took the blast. Glass and everything just…It felt like I was back in the marines. We had an operation to do and it was a trap. I lost a lot of my…people. I was the gunny and I led them into it. It was all my fault."

"How was it a trap?"

"Some politics thing…"

"It's not your fault. You didn't know."

"I had a gut feeling that something was wrong and I ignored it to follow orders."

"You were loyal. You are still."

Gibbs kissed her forehead.

"I feel like a bad person sometimes."

"My daughter is not a bad person."

A tear slid down Elise's cheek. "All of a sudden I feel so weak."

"We all have times like that."

"Oh crap I abandoned that cold case. I need to get back to it. How long am I going to wait here for?"

"Until I know you're OK."

"I would be quicker putting my shoulder back in place myself. In fact Riggs did it in Lethal Weapon two and three."

She stood up ready to walk to the wall but Gibbs sat her back down. "Leave it to the professional. You're getting as bad as Tony."

"Couldn't Ducky fix it?"

"He's busy."

Elise's phone rang in her bag. "Good job I left this in the room or it would be in smithereens."

"Hey." she answered. "Sloan…Just put it on my desk and go home…I'll get it…No I don't need your help with the case that Special Agent DiNozzo and I were assigned…Goodbye Sloan."

She ended the call. "I hate people."

"Kelly Gibbs." someone called.

"I don't remember changing my name on my records."

"I did it ages ago." Gibbs replied.

"OK." Elise nodded confused, before following the nurse into triage.

TBC


	16. Chapter 15

Elise made her way out of the elevator and to her desk. "Are you sure you're OK?" Gibbs asked her.

"I am fine." Elise replied. "I have things to do. Tell Tony that once he's finished with what he's doing that I'll need to see him at some point."

"Why did you not tell me that you and DiNozzo were undercover?"

"I was not allowed."

"That's you're get out of speaking about your problems isn't it? It's top secret. I'm not allowed…"

"I don't know what you're implying but whatever it is don't say another word."

Elise picked up the paperwork left on her desk by Sloan. "Now if you will excuse, I have a cold case to deal with and a mole in NCIS."

Elise put the file in her bag and then made her way up to the director's office. Gibbs stormed to the elevator and began to make his way to Abby's lab. The elevator stopped on the way and he met Tony, Ziva and McGee. "So what's going to happen to him now?" McGee asked Tony.

"It will be up to the jury on how they take it." Tony replied.

"Take what?" Gibbs asked, alerting the team of his presence.

"We caught, Colonel White's killer." Tony replied. "Turns out, Colonel White had a little run in with some collateral damage. A seventeen year old was killed. Her name was, Lucy Wood. Her brother was a journalist. Martin Wood. He did research into what happened. When he found out, Colonel White was behind his sister's death he poisoned her."

"How? Ducky and Abby found nothing…"

"Nothing was would show up." McGee spoke.

"Have you ever heard of Monkshood?" Ziva asked.

"Monkshood?" Gibbs asked.

"It's mentioned in Harry Potter only it's said to have more magical properties. It is also known as Wolfbane. It is highly poisonous and when Wood found out that White was behind his sister's death, he offered him a bottle of water, which had been soaked with Monkshood. Within three hours he was dead."

"Harry Potter, McGee? Even I don't watch those films." Tony piped up.

"The books, Tony. There is the books as well."

"That's what is familiar. Kelly was reading that the other day as she waited on the paint drying on the chessboard she had made Abby." Gibbs spoke.

"She's still making that?" Ziva asked.

"Takes time." Gibbs replied.

"McGee, where can I get the Harry Potter movies on DVD? All of them." Tony asked suddenly.

McGee drew him a look.

"Well if Elise reads it and watches it must be cool."

"But if I watch or read it, it isn't?" McGee replied.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and started the elevator again. "So you know Kelly wanted to see you."

"Me?" Tony asked.

"Who else was she at the hotel with?" Gibbs replied.

* * *

"Sir, we've lost our biggest lead how do you expect us to find this mole? We need to look at when our information started getting leaked to Dominic and then we need to look at our suspects…"

"We had a lot of people who came in around that time who could have been on our suspect list. It does not minimise it much, Gibbs."

"I see you've started calling me by that too." stated Elise.

"It's difficult not to when you continue being so stubborn, and showing me that look."

"I will contact the police and the fire service and see what they found."

"Tell them to bring it here."

"Yes sir."

"Did you search Dominic's room?"

"Yes, it was my first priority when the blast was over. But there was nothing there. On the way out with my father and Tony we had his safe checked. It was empty. They said they weren't giving us security footage without a warrant."

"There has been a lot of loose ends that has not been tied up yet!"

"I understand that director but when we have as little to go on as we do…"

"Get Sloan to help you if necessary with the cold case, to take weight off of your shoulders."

"Might I remind you sir, that Sloan is only a few months old and is not ready for the field yet, on his own."

"It is your job to make sure he is."

"Yes sir. You are right." Elise replied.

"Thank you. That's one thing you don't share with your father."

"What?"

"Agreeing with me."

"Yes, sir."

She left the director's office and made her way to her desk. "Hey, anything interesting?" Tony asked her.

"Not yet. Apparently my ideas are not minimising enough."

"So what do we do?" Tony asked.

"Tomorrow we phone the cops up who were at the scene and we're phoning the fire service and we're telling them to bring everything they found there. If they found anything but…I can't be sure I'd need to look at the bomb again but…something about it was familiar…"

"Familiar?"

"I have seen its type before. I can't be sure though, Tony."

"Tell me." Tony said softly.

"There was a bomb maker who made top of the range explosive devices for a group of terrorists. We took down the terrorists but not the bomb maker. He's still at large. He left a bomb in the CIA building blew up an isolated area down in the forensics lab. It killed twelve scientists and four agents. That was when his identity became known."

"What was his name?" Tony asked.

"Raymond Meunier." "Did you tell Director Vance?"  
"No. I can't be sure. But if it is Meunier or one of Meunier's clients, it's more than a mole we've got to deal with. But as I said a billion times I can't be sure."  
"Can't be sure of what?" Gibbs' voice suddenly asked. "Nothing." Elise spoke up. She stood up and grabbed her things. "See you tomorrow, Tony." Gibbs followed her to the elevator. "You know you're not driving home by yourself with that shoulder."  
"I am sure it'll heal in due time. Besides, something has been bothering me. Well not bothering me but I can't help but wonder why you came to the hotel so quickly? Not even the director knew about it."

Gibbs was not going to answer the question directly, instead he asked: "If you and my senior field agent were in a relationship you'd tell me right?" "What has that to do with anything…Oh I get it you thought Tony and I were at the hotel because…Oh but how did you know that was where we were? Did you get McGee to trace the call or something?"  
Gibbs never answered. "Emm. Could you do something for me?" "Of course." "I need to get a warrant for the security footage at the hotel. Can you help me?"

Gibbs smiled.

* * *

As soon as Elise was back at her apartment she grabbed a drink the refrigerator and took it to the coffee table as she read the file on her cold case. As she looked through the old emails to the victim Susan Swift there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she asked.

The only answer was the door being knocked again. She grabbed her gun from the table and went to answer it. Slowly she made her way to the door and slowly she turned the handle. She quickly opened it but no one was there. She breathed out, and put her gun in its place in her waist. She was just about to close the door when something stuck to it caught her eye.

She went back into her apartment and got a pair of forensic gloves, and a plastic bag to put the car in. In her eyes it was evidence now.

* * *

Tony made his way to his apartment as thought about what Elise had told him. When he got to his door he almost missed the card left attached to it. He picked it up and looked at it. On it was a symbol which looked like, to Tony, two swords crossing each other.

He frowned in thought and went inside.

* * *

Gibbs sat in his basement and let out a sigh as he looked at the chessboard Elise had been making for Abby. His daughter had been taking good care in making it. The chessboard, was not that difficult for Elise to make, it was the pieces and she was taking good time in making it. Abby's birthday would be coming up soon. But not only was it Abby's soon but a couple of weeks after hers, was Kelly's birthday. Gibbs wondered when her birthday had been before.

The next day Gibbs went in to work to find Tony hanging over Elise's shoulder as she showed him something.

"That sign is not swords. It is two Latin crosses. It is a Latin symbol for men who have died in battle. It's his calling card or signature warning if you prefer." Elise explained.

"Raymond's?"

"Yes."

"Great so he's after us."

"Confirms my suspicions about the bomb. Police and fire service found nothing off use to them there. Anything that Dominic had must have been taken by Raymond or one of Raymond's men."

"Do you think the mole is working with Raymond or…"

"If not the mole will probably be on Raymond's target list. I left my card with Abby to see if she could get a finger print off of it or DNA. Time will tell and when director Vance decides to come in I will speak to him but now to this cold case. There is some inconsistences that I have to question."

"Excuse me, mam." a voice spoke. Sloan. Elise turned around and glanced at him with a somewhat perturbed expression on her face.

"Yes?" Elise asked.

"I don't know what to do…"

"An agent should always use his own initiative and follow their instincts."

Elise stood up and made her way up to the director's office when she saw him go up the stairs. "Do you need me?" Tony asked.

"If I do I'll get you." Elise replied.

* * *

When Elise got back down from talking to the director, there was a file on her desk. She picked it up and inside was an agent's file. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked herself aloud.

She looked at it and realised it was a recruitment file. _"Not another newbie." _

She stormed to the elevator and went down to recruitment. "Excuse me?" she asked the woman in charge. "I got this on my desk. I don't need another agent. I already got some probie who can't shoot."

"Director Vance said you were looking for a team."

"Did he then? Who am I to question? I apologise for the crossed wires."

She left and gritted her teeth before descending the stairs to get to Abby's lab. "Abby." uttered Elise.

"Oh Giblet I got a print and I am running it through but I looked at the card under ultraviolet light and I got this code. I don't know what it means."

"Manufacturer's code?"

"No it's been written on recently with an invisible marker."

"I see." Elise nodded. "Thanks Abby. I owe you a Caf-Pow could you email that to me?"

"I already did."

"I owe you two and a triple chocolate muffin."

Abby smiled and turned to the computer.

* * *

"So Timmy I heard you got yourself a girlfriend."

"What?" McGee asked. "How did you know?"

"I didn't but you confirmed it. So how long has this been going on for?"

"None of your business."

"You never told us you had a new girlfriend McGee." spoke Ziva.

So he could change the subject to stop an interrogation from his two fellow agents he pointed out the woman who was standing near Elise's desk.

"Hey look who is that?" McGee asked.

Tony immediately looked up. "Someone in need of assistance." Tony replied. Tony walked over to her.

"Can I help you?"

"I am looking for Special Agent Bennet."

"It's actually Special Agent Gibbs now that's why the name plate has been changed on her desk. You're in the right area though."

"Tony." Elise's voice uttered.

"This is Special Agent Gibbs who is also known as Special Agent Bennet. Some people are lucky to have two names. Isn't that right?" Tony asked Elise.

"Don't you have paper work to be doing?" Elise snapped.

Tony blinked and then made his way to his desk. _"What's wrong with her?" _

"You must be Cecilia Croft."

"Yes."

"Well the desk to my right is free if you want to sit there. Behind me is Sloan's desk. Wherever the god damn hell he is. You were a cop in New York weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Any reason why you wanted to come here?"

"I moved to Washington a while ago but I wanted to be at NCIS because an NCIS agent saved my life."

"Good for you. So you know how to shoot then?"

"Yeah."

"OK."

"I am also good with computers as well. My brother works for at Microsoft."

"Well Miss Gates I'll know to ask if I need help."

"Who was that man who spoke to me."

Elise swallowed. "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. He's senior field agent on the major critical response team."

"Oh. Who is senior field agent here?"

"No one. None of you are full-fledged agents yet. But as you naturally have had experience as a detective you will be first in line."

"Mam." Sloan spoke.

Elise turned around to face him. "Where have you been?"

"I was using my initiative and I found something in the phone records."

"What?"

* * *

"I see you've made an arrest about that cold case and it was Sloan that found the crucial evidence." spoke the director. Elise looked up from her desk to face him.

"Yeah."

"How is the newer agent."

"Bright."

"Anything on Raymond."

"I tried to get security footage for my building but it mysteriously went missing, same with Tony's. But I got the footage from the hotel and Abby is dealing with that."

"What do you expect is going to happen?"

"If we continue to look for Raymond, then he will kill us basically and if not he will disappear again and the trace will go cold."

"What about the mole."

"Our best lead is Raymond."

"I'll inform SecNav and see what he thinks. Watch your back on your way home tonight."

"Yeah." Elise nodded. "You too sir."

When Vance was gone Elise still stayed at her desk before turning her computer on and typing in Raymond's name on the database. It was blocked, by the CIA."

She rubbed her eyes and sighed. _"Something tells me this is going to be tough. Argh I need some coffee."_

TBC

A/N Decided to use the NCISNCISNCIS as a page break because the ones in the doc manager weren't all appearing despite me putting them in. Thanks to EVERYONE for all your support and reviews. It's been brilliant of you all.


	17. Chapter 16

It had been a long time since Nathan had heard from Elise. They emailed each other now and then but never had she called him. He put it down to the fact that he had cancelled their dinner. Elise was never one to be mucked about. You were either there on time for her when she needed or expected you. Never before or after. She did not have the type of patience.

But the out of the blue phone call, was her calling in a favour and he felt utterly obliged to help despite a minimal amount of hesitation. Now he sat on a bench not far from the CIA building as he waited on an old partner of his to come outside. Elise couldn't go for she didn't have anyone on her side at the CIA. Nathan was different. He had friends everywhere and that was where him and Elise really did differ.

"Smith good to see you again." he heard his friend say.

"Ray Kruz, how are you?"

"I am fine. How can I help you?"

"I hear Raymond Meunier's being causing trouble and the lower agencies such as the FBI and NCIS can't get into his file. Any reason for that? Why would his file suddenly become unavailable to them?"

Kruz sighed. "You see Nathan as far as we are concerned we know that either you or NCIS has a mole and until that mole is found our file on Meunier is off limits. So could you tell Special Agent Bennet that. Or is it Special Agent Gibbs now? Everyone has heard about her finding her father. I am very pleased for her. I would be willing to help her if she were to arrange a private meeting with me."

"How did you know it was Elise?"

"We just do."

"I'll tell her that."

"Give her this." Kruz replied before handing over a card. "It's my personal contact details."

"I am sure she'll appreciate it. Thanks for your time, buddy."

"Anytime. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"I am sure by now Elise is ready to put you and her differences aside."

"Oh I already put mine away, after all I did not mean to put salt in her coffee. What was it she said to me…Never touch a marine's coffee if you want to live?"

"That might be it." Nathan replied.

Kruz walked away and then Nathan made his way back to his car.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

Nathan met Elise outside a coffee shop close to NCIS. "Anything?"

He handed her Kruz's card. "Ray Kruz asked me to give you this."

"Ray? As in the one who put salt in my coffee…"

"I thought you were above this…"

"I am he's just…"

"Listen he says he can't give you access to Meunier's file but he can help you out. He's willing to do it. Ray always liked you and he wasn't one of the bad guys in the CIA's events. Listen to him. Let him help you."

A short while ago her pride would never have allowed her to phone him, but her family's life was at stake.

She picked up her coffee and walked over to Nathan. "Thank you." she said before kissing his cheek. "For doing this for me. I understand that you weren't exactly happy with that place either."

She walked away to her car, sighing on the way.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

"So what are you doing?" Sloan asked Cecelia.

"None of your business, Special Agent Gibbs asked me to search something for her."

"Like what?" Sloan asked curiously.

"Nothing." replied Cecelia. "Besides, didn't she ask you to write that case report up?"

"Just because you are her new favourite, does not mean that you're more capable or for that matter get to be in charge of me when she's not here."

"But** I**do." Vance's voice boomed. Sloan and Cecelia looked up.

"Director Vance!" they said with a tone of respect as they looked at him.

"Hmm. Where is Special Agent Gibbs?"

"What one?" asked Sloan.

"Your Special Agent Gibbs."

"She was checking out a lead." Cecilia spoke.

"Director Vance, sir." Elise appeared behind him.

"Anything new on Meunier?"

"Not yet, sir but there is the likely chance of us having to work with one our sister agencies if I need the information…"

"What one?" Vance asked.

"CIA."

Vance blinked. "I see. Can you do that?"

"I am willing to let things slide over. After all I am a mature person who realises that not all CIA agents are bad."

"Do what you need to do. Keep me in the loop."

"Would you mind if I used M-TAC to contact someone?"

"Feel free. As I said keep me posted."

"Of course, sir." Elise replied.

When the director was gone Elise walked over to Cecelia's desk. "Anything?"

"Not yet, mam but I have only tried possibilities of this. I won't stop until I get an answer I promise."

"Take a break. Password your computer though I don't want anyone but the people I want to look at that. We've got a mole in here and I don't want them finding anything out."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

Tony was in the break room with McGee as they took a lunch break. "So, McGee who is the lucky girl?" Tony asked with a smile.

"No one." McGee replied.

Tony drew him a look.

"Look as well as it being none of your business I can't tell you but…Gibbs would kill me because I'd be breaking rule twelve."

"Oh. Abby?"

"No. Not Abby."

"Ziva?"

"No." sighed McGee.

Tony's face went horrified. "It's not Giblet is it?"

"No…Alright I'll tell you but you can't tell anyone."

"OK. I can keep a secret." smiled Tony, before sitting at the table – across from his fellow agent and friend.

"You know the director's new secretary came in a few months ago."

"Sylvia is gone?"

"Yeah. She left to start a family. She was pregnant and moving to Oklahoma."

Tony blinked. "Oh. Don't worry I won't tell anyone. Tell me though, what's her name so I know what to call her?"

"Alice. Alice Kane."

"That's a nice name." Tony thought. "Don't worry about the dating someone you shouldn't be thing. I understand that. Well not that I'm dating the person."

"What do you mean?"

"I've said too much." Tony replied. "So McGee I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone yesterday night. Wow!"

"In Britain it was known as the Philosopher's Stone."

"Really?"

The door opened and they saw Elise make her way in. She was on the phone as she made her way to the vending machine. "Yeah…Of course…I will see you at three o'clock…Thank you Ray…Again I am sorry for the trouble, but I am glad we're working this together…Goodbye."

She wasn't really glad to be working together with Ray Kruz but she had no other choice if she wanted Meunier taken down quickly.

She then proceeded to putting a dollar coin into the machine for a can of soda. Tony looked over to her as she bent down to collect it. McGee was too busy to notice Tony's womanising technique.

"So, Elise how are we doing with Meunier?"

"I need you in M-TAC at three."

"Sure."

"Thank you." Elise replied.

"Who is Meunier?" McGee asked.

"None of your concern." Elise replied.

Tony shrugged.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

"Mam!" Sloan exclaimed before bumping into Elise who was texting Nathan using her phone. Both Sloan and Elise's phones fell on the ground and they rushed to pick them up.

"Watch what you're doing next time!" Elise snapped. "You don't go running in this place unless it's an emergency."

"Well I finished my report and I was wondering…"

"Wondering what?"

"If you could read it."

"Leave it on my desk!" Elise ordered.

Cecelia suddenly had a brain storm. "Excuse me mam." she said quietly. "Do you have my file? My recruitment one I mean."

"Yeah, why?" Elise replied.

"It's just something I wanted to check."

Elise opened her drawer and handed took out Cecelia's file before handing it to her. Cecelia's brainstorm worked out the way she thought and soon she was typing into the computer. "What is it?"

"That number you told me to search. It is similar to mine only it's not. But if I was to search through the personnel data base for NCIS it will tell us whose number it is…And look."

Elise looked at the screen. "Alice?" she questioned. "The director's new secretary but…"

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

Break Room Half An Hour Later

"Why would her personnel number be on a card that was put as a warning on our doors?" Elise asked Tony.

"I don't get it but don't tell McGee…"

"Oh yeah the two of them are dating. That's what is worrying me. But she could be a victim."

"It would make perfect sense if she was the mole. Sweet little secretary for the director. No one suspects a thing. All those files she has to take down for the agents. She could easily slip a bug in the director's office."

"Maybe we should talk to the director first."

"Yeah." Tony agreed.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

After listening to Tony and Elise's findings Vance turned to Elise. "This card is very alike to the ones she has on her desk. She started the same time as our information began to get leaked." Vance spoke.

"Why would her personnel number be on the card director, sir?" Elise asked.

"You might not know but recent security means that we get invisible serial numbers put on our secretary's paper. So that they can be traced back if something like this every happened. Do you what you have to do." Vance spoke.

Tony and Elise shared a look both worrying about the same person. McGee.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

When they got out Alice was gone. "So much for doing what we have to do."

"I bet she's with McGee right now in the photocopy room." Tony remarked, earning a look from Elise.

"Yeah you're right, it's McGee we're talking about. We'll just have to find out where she went using security footage."

"I know just the person. Cecelia."

They made their way downstairs, as Elise took her phone out of her pocket. She opened up text messages ready to text Nathan as Tony made his way into the smaller bullpen to speak to Cecilia. It was at that moment that Elise realised it wasn't her phone in her hand. It was Sloan's. His recent text message was "**Kill him and I'll give your baby sister the money she needs."**

"_Kill who?" _

Elise looked up in time to see Sloan removing his gun from its holster as he began to point it at Tony. Elise ran in front of Tony and went to remove her own. "Stop!" she shouted but it was too late, he'd fired and soon she felt the bullet hit her in the chest, above her heart.

Then she heard another gunshot as fell into Tony's arms, her hand on her open wound. Tony looked to see his boss holding his gun and running over. "I don't think it was Alice that…"

"Don't speak; save your energy." Gibbs spoke.

That was the last thing she heard.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

"Where is she bleeding from?" a surgeon asked aloud. "Damn it. She's losing too much blood."

The next minute the machine began to make a prolonged beeping noise. "Shit! She's going into cardiac arrest."

TBC


	18. Chapter 17

Everyone remained quiet in the waiting room as they waited on the smallest piece of news on how the daughter of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was holding out in OR. Tony sat away from everyone else with his head bowed down low. He could not look his boss in the eye. It was him the bullet was meant for and him Elise took it for. Tony knew that and his guilt was higher than New York City's Empire State Building. If he had known. If he had just know what was happening he would have pushed her out of the way, but he didn't. It happened far too quickly for him.

Gibbs was furious; mostly with himself. Then the director was part of his fury, and after him the person or people behind it. He did not blame his senior field agent, but nor was he going to try and change his agent's mind either. He could tell what Tony was thinking, but he knew the only one able to change Tony's mind was in OR and may not live to tell him and that scared Gibbs. He had just gotten his baby girl back and now she was losing her life almost, and he was scared. He had not felt so scared since he found out that Pedro Hernandez had caused the accident which he'd thought had killed **both** his wife and child.

The surgeon in charge in the OR walked into the waiting room, ready to announce Elise's condition. "She made it, but during surgery she went into cardiac arrest and her heart stopped. So we're going to be keeping a close eye on her. She's awake right now but she's very sedated. She's asking for her father though."

Gibbs followed the surgeon into the recovery room and he swallowed. Elise was chalk white – which was to be expected – and she looked severely fragile. She didn't look like the tough talking, tough fighting Elise she was before.

"Hey, baby girl. I knew you could make it."

"I'm glad to see you." she spoke quietly. She sounded drowsy and weak. "I…umm…I had a dream about mum. I guess the trauma of the bullet or some other crap psychological stuff all happened at once when I…well it must have been when I blacked out…We were at…It might have been school and I was playing piano in front of all these people…You're alright with me talking about this aren't you?"

"Hey you talk away." Gibbs replied before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I got really scared about going up on stage and mum who was really pretty….she really was pretty."

Gibbs smiled. "Yeah, she was."

"She told me that I was a brave girl just like you were a brave marine. So I…I bit the bullet if you'll excuse my pun and continued to be brave and I went on and played…I don't remember what it was but it was something…Then umm…Before I knew it I was in an SUV and we're driving and there's the sound of glass breaking and the next minute the car has crashed and…I'm tired and I've hurt my head. I was scared and now I know why I can't remember anything because it was so horrible. But that's what happened. I…don't want to remember."

Gibbs began stroking her hair. "You go to sleep and I'll deal with Meunier. Tony told me everything and when I find him I am going to kill him. Don't you worry about a thing, huh? Because I promise you I'll get him. Your new probie; the cop; I am going to get her to come down to your room and stay with you until he's caught so I know you're safe."

"What about Tony? Is he OK?"

"Tony is fine. Don't you worry about him."

"Where is he? Why didn't he come to see me?"

"I'll tell him you want to see him but for now rest."

"Are you leaving?"

"I need to. I'll be back though. You won't be on your own I promise."

She soon fell asleep with the amount of sedative in her and Gibbs left.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

"McGee you get down to Abby's lab and you find out where those text messages came from; all the ones that were being sent to Sloan. Do it yesterday!"

"On it boss!" McGee replied before running to the elevator.

"Ziva the card that was on Kelly's desk was for a Ray Kruz, phone him and reschedule the appointment in M-TAC."

"To when, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"NOW!"

"Yes, Gibbs." she replied.

"DiNozzo you get her phone and give it to Croft to give to her."

"What can I do sir?" Cecelia asked.

"Stop calling me sir for one and secondly you can go down to that hospital and don't let anyone in her room that isn't meant to be."

"Yes…ummm…" she began.

"Go!" Gibbs barked.

Tony handed Cecelia Elise's phone. "DiNozzo you find Sloan's sister. If she was getting money it has to come from somewhere."

"On it, boss." Tony replied before picking up his desk phone. Gibbs made his way up to Vance's office.

"I heard you'd taken over mini Gibbs' investigation."

"Did you hear about the bullet in her chest?" Gibbs asked.

"I get it Gibbs you want in. Sit down. We'll talk." Vance spoke.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise was sitting up reading a book when the door opened and Nathan stepped in. "Hey, I heard you almost killed yourself. I was so worried."

"Hey Nathan." Elise replied.

Nathan looked at her and how the colour was drained out of her face. She outstretched her arms and he gave her a hug. "I thought that I'd come to see you since you almost…"

"Yeah I did didn't I?"

"You're taking it well."

"I'm still here though."

"Yeah…Listen I've been thinking."

"Did it hurt?" Elise asked.

Nathan smiled. "I almost lost you and I never got a chance to say that…well…you know I've always been unable to express my emotions with words."

"You should read more books and get a better vocabulary then."

"Yeah true but…"

Nathan cut himself off as he brought his lips close to Elise's. "I never got a chance to tell you that I really, really like you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I always have. That's why I asked you to dinner but it didn't work out well."

"Shit happens."

"Yeah."

Nathan broke the gap between their lips and kissed her. When he broke away he looked at her. "You need to stop trying to kill yourself you know that?"

"Yeah."

He lifted her hand up and kissed it. "When you're better I will take you to dinner."

"I'd like that." Elise replied.

The door opened suddenly and Cecelia stepped in. "Your father sent me."

"Hey Cecelia. How are you?" Elise asked.

"Fine, mam."

"Oh, please don't call me mam. Elise or Kelly is fine. Giblet maybe."

"OK." Cecelia nodded.

"I'll go now." Nathan spoke. "I'll be back though."

"Bye." Elise waved.

TBC


	19. Chapter 18

Two days passed and the only people Elise saw were Cecelia, Ziva, Abby, McGee and Nathan. Gibbs didn't stop by but he phoned her regularly and made sure she was still at the hospital. Already she was feeling eager to leave the hospital, but it was not an option. The fact her heart had stopped in OR did not put her off the idea however despite the other NCIS agents attempts to embed it in her mind.

But the one person she really wanted to see was Tony. Yet he did not stop by at all. She tried texting him, but they were one word answers like 'yes' and 'no'.

The door opened suddenly and Cecelia stepped inside. "I brought you some coffee from Starbucks, courtesy of your father."

"Thanks all I've had is water." Elise replied.

She drank it. "Wait a minute is this decaf?"

Cecelia sat down. "He says it's best you drink the decaf for the time being."

"Coffee is not going to make me have a heart attack Cecelia. Anyway you've been here non-stop. Go home and get some rest."

"Special Agent Gibbs senior said…"

"Listen whose agent are you?"

"Yours…"

"Therefore you do as I say and I am telling you to go home."

"Bossy isn't she?" a familiar FBI agent's voice interject.

"Please tell me you brought me real food they're making me eat jell-o." spoke Elise in Nathan's direction.

"Colour is still not in your cheeks yet. You're whiter than paint."

"Thanks." Elise replied. "You staying long?"

"No, I just came to see how you're feeling."

"I'm fine. Just want to get out of here and into my double bed. Isn't annoying when you go to put your hand over the crease in a single and…"

She stopped because Cecelia and Nathan were looking at her as if she was weird. She drank the rest of her coffee and put it on the table. "So, how about you have a word with the doctor and see when I can get out because apparently I am not allowed to get up."

"I can't do that." Nathan replied. "Only your next of kin can sort that out. I believe that would be your father. By the way Ray sends his regards."

"Ray?"

"Yeah, him and your father are working the Meunier investigation. Didn't he tell you?"

"No he didn't." Elise replied. "But then again he has not come to see me. Although he did phone. Thank **you** for coming to see me."

"I won't let you down." Nathan replied before kissing her cheek. "I'll come by and see you later."

"Right, at least I get you for like three minutes at a time. Some people don't bother coming to see me at all."

"Sure, whoever it is, is probably just busy."

"Yeah, trying to solve this case without speaking to me." Elise mumbled and then she turned to Cecelia. "Go home already."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

As Tony washed his hands in the bathroom his phone text message alert went off. He picked it up and read it. **"I heard you've been getting into the Harry Potter movies. Perhaps you should read the books." **

He didn't text back, instead he put his mobile in his pocket and walked back into the squad room and to his desk. "Abby's got something." Gibbs spoke. "This way DiNozzo."

When the elevator had made half of its journey Gibbs froze it. "You been to seen Kelly yet?"

"Not yet, I've been busy."

"She's asking for you. There a problem DiNozzo?"

"None."

"I think there is."

"Well I suppose there is considering the fact she took that bullet and I did nothing about it."

"You didn't know, and you know what she's like. She's stubborn and headstrong."

"But…" Tony began.

Gibbs head slapped him. "Don't but me!"

He unfroze it and let it start again.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Four Hours Later

With Cecelia gone Elise took the opportunity to go the bathroom and brush her hair with the aid of the mirror. She had to lean on things to keep full balance but apart from that she was OK. _"It's not as if I'm running a marathon am I, Elise? I need to stop talking myself or I am going to be in a mental ward."_

She put her hair up in a tight braid and then she got changed into a tank shirt and a pair of camouflage trousers. Before slipping the top on she let her eyes linger on the mirror where she could see the dressing on her chest. _"I almost lost Tony. I almost died and all I could think about was if he was OK. I need to get over him. I need to Elise. It's just not appropriate. He's handsome accept it but it's time to move on._ _Besides Nathan wants a relationship with you anyway."_

She heard a knock at the door and she put her shirt on before walking out of the bathroom to find Ray Kruz.

"Ray Kruz."

He held out a cup of coffee he had in his hand. "Peace offering."

She took it from him. "This decaf?"

"No."

"Peace offering is accepted."

"Should you be up and out of bed?" Ray asked as Elise sat down on the arm chair.

"Probably not, but I don't care. What brings you here?"

"I need your help."

"Mine?"

"You see no one ever came close to taking down Meunier before you but you could not get to him fully because you had to defuse one of his bombs."

"You have a whole file on him…" began Elise.

"But you…" began Ray as he tapped Elise's forehead. "Have that experience in there."

"Do you want me to break your finger?"

Ray stopped tapping her forehead immediately. "Meunier is going to set up a decoy if you come close. Like he did with me. So you need someone who'll deal with the decoy and someone to deal with him."

"CIRay, what are you doing here?" Tony's voice sounded.

Elise's chest tightened as she heard Tony's voice. It had a whole cold and business side to it though and it was not his usual happy tone.

"Just bringing Elise some coffee for old time sake. I better go now. Thanks for your help, Elise. Or would you rather I called you Kelly?"

"Either is fine." Elise replied.

"Well a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Ray said.

"I hated that play." Elise replied.

Ray smiled and then left. Tony and her were alone now. "Hi."

"Hi." Tony spoke.

"You've finally decided I exist. You don't know how hard it is being the only movie geek in this place. I guess I just wanted someone to talk to who understood me."

"I just…Why? Why did you do it? Why did you take the bullet? Why did you draw your gun after you went in front of me?"

"Because it's you Tony!" Elise replied. _"I'd have done it anyway but I'd do it for you because I love you."_

"Did you not consider how guilty it would make me feel?"

"Don't give me that!" Elise replied. "Don't you dare give me that! Grow up now! Stop wallowing in your pity and accept that it happened. I'd do it again for you! For Ziva, or for McGee, dad, Abby, Nathan, Cecelia or the director…"

Elise stopped speaking as she put a hand to her chest which was feeling painful as her stress increased. "Look go away Tony. Just go away! I thought I wanted to see you and I made a mistake. Thank you Tony for being so miserable!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't say you're sorry…it's a sign of weakness and if I wasn't feeling like shit right now I'd head slap you with such force that Anakin Skywalker would kill for!"

Tony suddenly started laughing. "What?" Elise asked.

"Then may the force be with you!"

Elise was next to start laughing. "Ow!" she winced. "It's painful."

Tony walked over and hugged her. "I didn't mean to be an ass hole when I walked in the room."

"It's never anyone's intention."

"No, it's never."

Tony's cell rang. "Boss…" he answered. "…I'll be there ASAP."

He ended the call. "Should you be up and out of bed?"

"No, but don't tell and don't tell dad that Cecelia isn't here. She looked tired so I sent her home…Where you going?"

"I'll see you later."

"This is about Meunier, isn't it?" Elise asked as Tony got to the door. He stopped but never turned around or replied and then a second later he kept on walking.

TBC

**A/N A big, big thank you to Smush68 for being there for me and for the encouragement. Please go and read her stories they are amazing! Big thanks to all of you who have reviewed. Love you all and you're amazing. If you've a problem or concern to share, please do I don't take offence and I'm eager to get a bit of criticism be it about plot, grammar…whatever. I am trying to get better so, thanks guys. **


	20. Chapter 19

Night time fell in the hospital and Elise had heard absolutely nothing from anyone. She was beginning to get worried. So she grabbed her phone and double checked that she had not missed any phone calls or text messages. She began to breathe with more speed as she panicked. She put her hand to her chest and tried to calm herself.

When she returned to normal breathing she grabbed her bag and put her phone in it before slowly making her way to the door. "Oh, just in time you saved me opening the door." a voice spoke.

She turned to look at the French terrorist Raymond Meunier and swallowed.

"NCIS have just went on a wild goose chase which will give us time to chat!"

He put his hand on Elise's shoulder and pushed her into the wheelchair he'd brought along. "This place has a nice roof I think."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

After following bank records, Abby and McGee traced the same bank details to an expensive luxury apartment in Georgetown. Tony was the one who knocked the door down. In the apartment they found three dead bodies. Two females and one male. They checked the pulses of the victims but there none. As they continued looking they found several guns in drawers and wardrobes; explosive in the microwave; money in the mattress and even drugs in a desk drawer.

"Where is he?" Ziva asked.

Tony swallowed as he looked at a note on the refrigerator door. "Boss, we need to get back to the hospital. It's those Latin Cross things again but on the bottom it says 'I know' and then it's got 202."

"202 that's Kelly's room number."

"She sent Cecelia home!"

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

"Cigarette?" Meunier offered from his cigarette case.

"No thank you." Elise replied dryly as Meunier put his case in his inside pocket.

"I always admired you Elise. You never gave up for a long time. You came so close and then you chose a group of school kids over me. Ever predictable."

"What kind of psychopath leaves a bomb in a school?"

"The sadistic kind." Meunier replied with a laugh.

"You know NCIS isn't as stupid as the CIA. They'll find you."

"I know sweetie which is why I've come for you! You're my get out of here alive card."

He walked over and put his hand around her throat. "As much as I'd love to keep doing this I need you alive. For now! But don't push me, mademoiselle I can put you through pain."

He put a finger over where her wound was and pressed. She forced herself not to wince. She was used to torture but being around a family had humanised her and her ability to feel pain had increased.

"Not too much though. Don't want you bleeding out."

She patiently waited on him walking to the edge of the roof to look down on the car park "It's late. A beautiful view."

As he was staring away she went down to her boot and removed her knife. _"Rule nine." she thought. _

He turned around and she quickly concealed the knife in her waist. "So how much do you know about the NCIS team who are now looking for you?" Elise asked, keeping him busy.

"What you're going to tell me." he replied. "So tell me about Anthony DiNozzo. The one you were at the hotel with!"

"The truth?"

"Would be best."

"Fine. I met him when I was twelve. He was my dashing hero. Then we lost touch and I got tortured and he rescued me again and now I have been unable stop looking at his ass and…"

"I am not your therapist."

"You don't think I am going to give you intelligence on NCIS do you? I am not Sloan. You may have been able to threaten his sister, but I'm not going to fall into your big black trap. I suffered torture twice do you honestly think that I give a damn what you do to me."

"_Come on take the bait and come over."_

He didn't walk over to her he just stood there and stared.

"Hey that suit you've got on you might want to see Tony about that because damn that's one piece of shit! How much did you pay for it? Two dollars? Did none of the tailors in your area accept blood money?"

"I told you Elise Bennet that I can hurt you."

"I am not Elise Bennet. I am either Elise or Kelly but I am not a Bennet. My surname is Gibbs! Perhaps you should do your research more. Or is it maybe because you really don't have any brains at all? Is that why you makes bombs? Too stupid to do anything else? It's not Vice City you know!"

Meunier removed pen from his pocket and walked over to her before pressing it against her wound. She winced and then removed the knife from her waist, and with haste she plunged it into his stomach.

He walked backwards for a moment before falling down to the ground. Then he began pulling the knife out of his stomach. He forced himself to stand up. "You bitch!"

He staggered towards her, ready to kill her but then the door from the roof burst open and Gibbs appeared, He immediately fired and Meunier fell of the roof.

He ran over to Elise and hugged her. "It's alright. You're alright now."

"Do I have to stay in this place any longer? Anyway I need to finish off Abby's chess board. I only have to paint the pieces now and varnish them."

"We'll get you checked out first. Are you OK?"

"I am now." she replied.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

The next day Gibbs found Elise in his basement, finishing off the last touches to Abby's chess board. "This will be there on time for Abby's birthday on the twenty fifth."

"Yeah and yours is on the twentieth of June. You'll be twenty nine."

"Wow. So that's what a real birthday is."

"When was it before?" Gibbs asked.

"I never really celebrated my birthday. For one I didn't know when it was and when I asked…well let's just say the answer I got told me the greatest birthday surprise would be to be adopted."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Gibbs asked.

"Because I thought I would be weak. Who would they believe? Me or the decorated marine?"

"I know how I would like to decorate him." Gibbs replied.

"Yeah. Well it's over now. Things are good aren't they? I'm still alive and stuff."

"Spoke to Tobias when you were being checked out by the surgeon."

"Oh, yeah?" replied Elise.

"Said that you and his agent were dating."

"Well I wouldn't say dating but we're getting there."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Gibbs asked. He severely disliked Nathan Smith for his attitude when Elise had been taken by Burley.

"I think so." Elise replied.

"You think?"

"I get people who ask me out all the time based on my looks. Nathan on the other hand has seen all sides to me personality wise and he stuck by me."

"The same Nathan who cancelled dinner with you?"

"As agents we understand that shit happens."

"I am going to have to go to work to deal with some things. Do you think you'll be alright?" Gibbs asked changing the subject, although he had someone coming over who he hoped would keep an eye on her.

"Yes. I will."

"I've got someone coming round to stay for a while, so if there name is Jackson don't shoot them. You have your knife?"

"It's evidence now."

Gibbs handed her his. "Don't be without it."

He kissed her forehead. "You be careful, marine!"

"Will do gunny." Elise replied.

He messed up her hair and then made his way upstairs.

"_Who is Jackson?" Elise wondered. _

TBC

a/n you can also vote for Tony or Nathan in my poll on my profile


	21. Chapter 20

In the end Gibbs had to pick Jackson up from the train station. On his way from still water, his train had broken down and he waited a few hours on it starting. "So, why did you bring me here, Leroy?" Jackson asked his son, as Gibbs led him up the steps to his house.

"You'll see in a minute." Gibbs replied before opening the front door. He dropped his dad's case in the hallway. As soon as she heard the voice of her father talking to his father she made her way from the living room into the hallway. "This is why I brought you." Gibbs spoke.

Jackson turned to Elise and blinked. Elise smiled as Jackson stared at her. "Hello."

"I swear you remind me of someone…" began Jackson. "Leroy she's…."

"Shannon's double." Gibbs finished.

"What's going on?" Elise asked confused.

"I think it's about time you found out dad, this is Kelly. She didn't die all those years ago and if you sit down I'll explain."

"He's your dad?" Elise asked. "That would mean…"

"You sit down too. I am going to explain everything."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Jackson sat, taking in the whole story of Elise coming to NCIS, and how Gibbs had found out who she was, and how her death had been staged.

When it was over Elise stood up and walked over to Jackson with her hand extended. "It's an honour to meet, you sir."

Gibbs smiled.

Jackson stood up and still didn't shake Elise's hand. Instead he hugged her and a tear ran down Elise's cheek and Gibbs signed to her. **"Don't cry, baby girl." **

She nodded in reply.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

**Three Months Later Thursday, 9****th**** of August **

"Why are we going to speak to this person?" Cecelia asked Elise. It was Elise's first day back at work, after three months of recovery and as soon as she sat down at her desk in the morning, she got a tip off, about a wanted marine. "Ethan Douglas!" Elise spoke as she knocked on the door.

There was no answer. She peered in through the letter box. "Nothing."

"Let's go then. We can't go in without a warrant." Cecelia spoke.

"Do you hear that?" Elise asked. "I think I just heard someone scream help!"

She knocked the door down and then went inside. She lowered her gun as she looked into the dark living room. "Call up MCRT, we've got a dead marine." Elise spoke.

Elise went to turn around when someone came running downstairs. He pushed her to the ground and then Cecelia, before running out the door. Elise immediately got up and went running after him.

He turned around and pointed a gun at her. "NCIS drop….drop your weapon!" she stammered as her hands began shaking while she held her gun. He didn't lower his gun, but he realised she was not in any condition to begin chasing him and he continued running.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise sat in her car as the MCRT began checking out the house. Gibbs knocked on her door, and she unrolled the window. "Sweetie, are you going to come out and talk? He got away, so what? We'll catch him."

"It's my fault, he got away." Elise replied.

"No, it's not."

"I had the opportunity to shoot him, and I didn't."

Gibbs blinked.

"And shooting is the only thing, that I was ever good at, and it's gone."

"Move over."

Elise moved over to the passenger, seat and Gibbs sat in the driver's seat, before closing the door over. He put a hand on her cheek and looked at her, his eyes gentle. "What happened, baby girl?"

"I ran after him, like I said and I drew my weapon and it was fine, and I told him to stop, he turned around and he had his own, and my hands began to shake. He was about shoot me, and then he didn't."

"We'll get a sketch out and we'll find him."

"Shooting is the only thing I've ever been good at." Elise replied.

"Hey…Don't make me start head slapping you too. I thought you were the last person who needed it. It's your first day back at work, after being shot in the chest. You're bound to experience this. Where is your gun?"

"It's here." spoke, Elise before removing it from her belt. Gibbs took it off her. "Go home, I'll talk to Vance. I'm sure Cecelia can help us out."

"What are going to tell him? That I bottled it? I don't want him thinking, I am a coward."

"You're far from it. Go, home and rest. Actually…"

Gibbs got out of the car and leaned against the door. "DiNozzo!"

"Yes, boss?" the agent asked.

"Take, Kelly home. She's not feeling too well. Then come back. Take her, car to come back."

"On it, boss." Tony replied.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

"What happened?" Tony asked Elise when they got to her apartment. Suddenly she broke down into tears.

"Hey. Hey." Tony spoke, before wrapping his arms around her. "What's wrong?"

"I…" she began. "I am not strong anymore. I used to be strong. Now I am just a wimp."

"No, you're not a wimp. Not, at all."

He tightened the hug as she cried on his shoulder.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

At night, she met up with Nathan to have dinner. "You're quiet, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing, really." she replied. "Ya, wanna watch a movie?"

"I don't really like movies."

"Oh. That's right."

She head slapped herself and Nathan blinked. _"I need to remember not everyone likes movies. Wait a minute? He must like SOME movies. I think I'll ask him that."_

"So, you've seen no movies at all?"

"Last one I saw, was Jungle Book and I can't remember what age I was. I decided that movies were a waste of time. TV is not my thing. I always preferred other recreational activities. We could, horse riding, you like horses don't you?"

"It's not really the weather." Elise replied. "We'd have to make plans and you know how much our work affects things."

Elise sighed.

"So, what is wrong?" Nathan asked. "You're pouting, you're grumpy…oh wait my mistake, you're fine."

"I let, a murderer get away, who killed another murderer, and my hands were shaking as I held the gun."

"Look, Elise…I've known you since I sort of persuaded you into following me into the CIA and I know whatever it is, you'll get through it."

His phone rang and he answered, a few moments later he was ending the call, and patting her on the shoulder. "I'll see you later. I need to go."

He left and Elise sighed, heavily.

TBC

**A/N Apologies for the update, wait. I've been quite… 'stuck' … with this. I hope it's not too rubbish. And I'm hoping for it to get better as time goes on. Don't hate me guys. A big thanks to Smush68 for pushing me on and give me a kick (not literraly ) : )**

** Thanks. **


	22. Chapter 21

Gibbs wandered into Abby's lab the next morning to find her head on the desk as she slept off a whole night of work. He walked over to her, quietly and slowly. "Abby." he whispered as she gently shook her.

Abby woke up. "I swear I only had one…" she began. "Gibbs!"

"Hey Abbs, did you not go home last night?"

"I am at home." she replied, still half asleep.

"Abby you are in your lab." Gibbs replied.

"What?!" she asked turning around. "I was…oh…I must have fell asleep at my keyboard."

Luckily Gibbs had brought caf-pow with him and he handed it to her. "Do you have something for me?"

"Oh, yeah…I think…Yes! Yes. I. Do!" she replied, pronouncing three words as single sentences.

She took a sip through her straw of the energy beverage and then began typing using the keyboard.

"I did a tox on our murdereder, Jack Lake and he was loaded on alcohol."

"Murdereder?" Gibbs questioned.

"Yeah, well he's a murdered murderer…maybe I should have got more sleep it's not one of my best nicknames. I spent the night, trying to find out what it was. It's Vodka and then I spent the rest of it looking for the brand…"

"Abby you should have went home, we all did."

"But it's Giblet…she's upset Gibbs. Tony told me. She isn't answering my calls or my texts…she just doesn't do that. I think she's scared…"

"Abby, I'll take care of Kelly. I'll make sure both my girls are fine." he replied before kissing her forehead.

"The brand of Vodka is home made, and it's only sold in three shops across the world. Only one of them is in D.C. They might have cameras…"

"I'll get DiNozzo on it right away." Gibbs replied.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise waited in the outside area of a coffee shop close to the FBI. "Hey." Nathan's voice spoke. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I am good." Elise replied.

"You're not are you?"

"I don't know what else to do." Elise replied.

Nathan sat down across from her. "OK. Then talk to me. What's up?"

"All my life I've had to control my own path and do my own thing and look after myself and get on with everything. But, now I have a family who care and… Yesterday I bottled it holding that gun and that was wrong. It was so very wrong."

"Right, so what are you going to do about it? Pick yourself up and move on like you've done before. So what you screwed up yesterday and you should have pulled that trigger and you shouldn't have had your hands shaking but it's not a big deal."

"I just feel that I no longer know where I stand anymore and that I have become reliant on emotions rather than my abilities."

"Then find a balance. Simple. See it's all sorted out."

"Yeah." Elise nodded, sarcastically. "Simple."

"While I'm here I'll get some coffee. In fact the queue is long can I just take yours?"

Elise blinked and then handed it over. "Yeah, on you go."

"Thanks." Nathan replied before getting up. "Oh, and I'll come around to your place to see you about something tonight. I think we need to talk."

"Nathan, would you do something for me?"

"Yeah." Nathan replied.

"Coach me again."

"Coach you? I did enough coaching you the first time…"

"Please. I think I just need coached."

Nathan's phone rang. "Listen I have to go and take this. We'll talk more later. Tonight. I love you."

She nodded.

Nathan shot her a look before answering the call on his phone and walking away.

_"Can't I talk to anyone?" Elise thought. _

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

As Elise walked home with her arms folded to keep the cold away from her, she had a horrible feeling she was being watched. It wasn't just a nerve playing up, it was a gut feeling. That was when her eyes caught on to the dark coloured SUV. _"It's just a cliché. Your eyes caught the SUV, Elise and it subconsciously did the thinking before you acknowledged it was there. OK? Life isn't a movie."_

She still memorized the registration plate and continued walking onwards, hoping, praying that she was just paranoid. She had had enough trouble to last her a life time.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Tony made his way into the bullpen with a smile on his face. "I showed the cashier our sketch of our killer's killer and asked him if he purchased the vodka in their recently. Answer was yes. He even gave me a name, on who it was. Lewis Kennedy."

"Lewis Kennedy?" McGee questioned before typing into his computer. "He's never even had a parking ticket."

"Why start with a small parking ticket when you could try and shoot an NCIS agent." Tony replied, a tad bit bitterly.

"He's got a permit for a gun, though." McGee spoke.

"A gun he turned on Elise!" Tony replied.

"He lives in Georgetown." McGee spoke. "Shall we go, Boss?"

"DiNozzo you're with me!" Gibbs spoke.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

When Gibbs and Tony got to their desired destination, the senior field agent knocked on the door. It was opened immediately by a young twenty year old male.

"NCIS." Gibbs spoke, before showing his badge. "Is your father the owner of this house?"

He nodded and then swallowed. "He's not at home right now. What's this about?"

"Nothing, we just thought that he could help us out a bit with an investigation." Tony replied, not wanting to worry the son.

They suddenly heard a car drive up and they turned to look at an SUV. Outstepped Lewis Kennedy. "Dad these men are here to see you. From NCIS."

Gibbs went to approach them, but Lewis dropped his camera and broke into a run. Tony went running after him, his gun removed from its holster. "Stop!" DiNozzo shouted, holding his gun and aiming for the fugitive.

He turned around and put his hands up. Tony handcuffed him and took him to Gibbs car, where he searched him. He found a gun and showed Gibbs.

"Taking a few photos, Lewis?" Gibbs asked. DiNozzo being more experienced with a digital camera took it off of Gibbs and began looking at the photos.

He showed Gibbs a photo, his expression turning cold. It was not like Tony to get so angry. Gibbs saw why. "Stalking an NCIS agent? An NCIS agent who could identify you?" Gibbs asked.

"I want my lawyer." he replied.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

While Gibbs sat in interrogation with Lewis, Tony turned around to see Elise. "Hey." he spoke.

"That's him." Elise spoke.

"Yeah, we gathered."

"Does he drive an SUV?"

"Yeah." Tony replied, frowning his eyebrows. "How do you know?"

"I saw an SUV today and…I had the feeling someone was watching me but I put it down to a movie cliché."

"Oh." Tony nodded. "He was taking photos of you."

"What?"

Tony explained.

"And he gave no explanation just an I did it?"

"Yeah." Tony replied. "Ex- forensic scientists too."

Elise turned around to Tony. "Ex scientist? Why would he use something that would get him tracked down when he could do what Abby is threatening you guys with all the time? Burn all your insides out without leaving a trace?"

"What?"

"Something isn't right. I just know it."

Tony put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, we've caught him. He turned a gun on you…"

"But he stopped when he realised that I couldn't fight back a cold hearted murderer would not do that."

"Look, Elise…" began Tony.

Elise stormed out of the observation room and to the elevator.

Tony sighed.

When Elise got to her desk Cecelia drew her a look but she just ignored it. As she began typing into the computer Ziva peered over the wall to see her fellow worker.

"Are you alright?" Ziva asked.

"Never better, Ziva."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Ten Minutes Later

"You're still not answering my questions!" Gibbs spoke. Suddenly the door opened and Elise stepped inside. Gibbs was about to pull her out and scold her for interrupting his interrogation, just because she was his daughter gave her no exception to the rules but she slammed a folder down on the desk and pulled up a chair.

"How long were you waiting on NCIS to arrive?" Elise asked.

"Huh?" uttered Lewis.

"You made the call to tip us off soon after your son killed Jack Lake in an act of revenge for what he did to his girlfriend, Sarah Boyd. You are dying and haven't got long left to live, so you'd take the blame for your son…"

"I did it! I did it!"

"The tip off about the sighting of Jack Lake was made ten minutes after his death. You found out what your song was doing but you didn't get there on time, and you sent him away. Where he waited around the corner in the SUV…You knew that the vodka that you son stole would be traced back to you! You told him to clean up his evidence, and he took home the bottles of vodka."

Lewis leaned back in his chair and looked up to face Elise. "I am saying nothing."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

**Break Room One Hour Later**

"So the whole following you around was just to make us further think that he was the killer?" Tony asked.

"Yes."

"And the son?"

"Not enough evidence and Lewis isn't speaking anymore on the matter." Elise replied.

"What about you? You OK now?"

"I don't know." Elise replied.

Tony removed two cinema tickets from his suit jacket. "I got these and I was going to ask you to come but why don't you and Nathan go instead."

Elise took the tickets in her hands. "Nathan doesn't really like movies, and I would rather go with you anyway. It's more fun when I am sitting next to you, and we can talk about movies while we watch one."

"Back up a minute…Nathan doesn't like movies?"

"No he's not into them for some screwed up reason. Probably got a complex as a child. He's more into poker and stuff…"

"What does he do for quiet time?"

Elise snickered. "I gotta go. He wanted to see me tonight. So, do you wanna go and watch the movie tomorrow?"

"Well yeah!" Tony replied as though it was an obvious answer. "I'd love it."

"Great."

Elise handed Tony the tickets and patted his shoulder.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

When Elise got to her apartment the door was already opened and Nathan was inside waiting on her. "Hey, how was work?"

"It was fine." he replied as he stared at the ceiling.

Elise sat down on the sofa next to him.

"You know I said I love you today and you just nodded."

"Yeah…I wanted to say something but I guess I was holding you back. You were busy."

He took her hand. "OK. You had a lot going on. I understand. I'm sorry. I just guess I don't know where we are."

"Yeah."

"I love you, though."

"I…" began Elise, swallowing. She didn't actually know what it was. "I…love you too."

Nathan's phone rang suddenly.

"It always does that." Elise said.

"I know and I'm sorry."

He answered it. "Hello…Again?...I'm on my way."

"Something's come up hasn't it?" Elise asked as Nathan ended the call.

"Yes, and I'm sorry but I need to go."

"I understand!" Elise replied. "I do."

When Nathan had gone, Elise sighed. _"Do I really love, love Nathan?"_

TBC

**A/N Great Big Thank you to you all. And another big thanks to Smush68 for her support. Sorry about the long time between updates, just been busy with stuff and I'm really sorry. Not that the updates are really that good, and for that I apologise as well. **


	23. Chapter 22

The next day, Elise went to the shooting range. Her hands weren't shaking but all her shots were off. "Damn it."

"Newbie?" one of the workers asked.

She turned around, a tad bit annoyed that she'd been called that, but then for the sake of not having to explain her life story she defended herself with. "No, just a bad day."

The worker nodded and wandered off. "I thought that I'd find you here." a voice spoke suddenly. Elise turned around to see Gibbs.

"Dad, shouldn't you be at work?"

"I came to talk to **_you_**." he replied, before walking over to her. Elise shot again, but the bullet hit the bottom of the target.

"I meant to do that." she said.

Gibbs took the gun out of her hand. "Sit down."

She did as she was told and he sat beside her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I…I just feel that lately…I used to be so independent and non-reliant on others. Now I am acting so needy and…"

"You're not." Gibbs spoke.

"I never used to cry and I just broke down in front of Tony the other day. I just…Since, I got shot I've realised that I finally have things to lose and to live for. Before I was not so scared because I had nothing to live for. But, I found you and now I…"

Tears escaped the tear ducts of Elise's eyes and fell down her cheeks. Gibbs wiped them away and kissed her forehead. "You listen to me, Kelly! That's normal and you'll get through it. You're still not valuing your own life though, are you? You're always thinking 24/7 about other people."

"But…"

"I'll prove it."

Gibbs handed her the gun back and walked over to her target, before pointing to the side he was not blocking. "Shoot there."

"I can't do that…"

"Do it!" Gibbs ordered. "We're not leaving until you do and you're not going to the movies with Tony either if you don't."

"What if I miss?"

"Don't!" Gibbs replied. "You take that gun and you shoot where you need to! Prove that you're still the marine you were. Are you really going to throw away your skills? You said that it's all you're good at it! So, why aren't you doing now?!"

Elise shot and the bullet landed where Gibbs wanted it to go. He walked over to her put her hair behind her ears. "See, you can do it when there are other's lives on the line. Go ahead, do it now when there is only yours. That target is Lewis Kennedy. Shoot him!"

Elise's hands began shaking and she stopped. "I can't do it."

Gibbs drew her one of his famous stares that said he was not going to accept what she just said.

"Take a deep breath. You can do this."

Elise fired and closed her eyes at the same time. When she opened them the bullet had missed the middle in no more.

"Try again, that was better."

Elise pulled the trigger once more and it hit the target right in the middle. "I did it!" she cheered.

Gibbs smiled and kissed her cheek. "Come on, let's go." he spoke. "Too much for one day."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

The months flew past, with new cases, and more than a train load of paper work for each agent, but it was approaching Christmas which gave them all something to cheer about.

When it reached five days to Christmas however, Elise emerged from the elevator looking like she hadn't slept, and that she'd been crying all night. Tony was the first one to notice and when he walked up to her and asked if she had done all of her Christmas shopping yet, to break the ice, she snapped at him.

"Do I honestly look like I have time, Tony to do Christmas shopping?!" she barked before looking to her level of paper work.

"Sorry…"

"Yeah, sorry you should have thought before asking. For once Tony can you do that? Now if you don't mind I do have a lot to do and Christmas in on the bottom of the list."

He walked over to his desk a bit confused and worried. McGee and Ziva were not surprised. It was not the first time she had snapped at someone. She had snapped at Gibbs the other day in the break room over the vending machine and they had walked in on it: _"I think I can use a vending machine, dad! It's not as if I'm __**that **__stupid, ya know!"_

Gibbs looked up obviously in realisation that his daughter's mood was getting worse. He decided the best thing to do was to go to Starbucks. So he left without saying a word. When he came back he sat a muffin and a cup of coffee on, the Giblet's desk.

"Thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks." she smiled. "I was running late and I didn't have time to stop at the coffee shop on the way."

He began using sign language to communicate. **"Do you have a problem?"**

**"No."** Elise signed back, although it was obviously a lie. Elise had been crying, and her eyes had gone red. That showed extensive tears, which was usually unlike her. She never cried for hours and hours.

Gibbs just nodded and walked away.

The next day, Elise was late in for work to find that her father's team were gone. "Cecelia, where did everyone go?"

"I am no sure." Cecelia replied. "When will we get a case? We've been working cold cases. It would be nice to get a hot one."

"Well, we take what we get." Elise replied sharply before signing the bottom of a sheet of paper work and putting it in the finished pile.

The team came back three hours later to find Elise had done another ton of the paper work on her desk. Tony approached her.

"Listen…" he began.

"I'll talk to you later, Tony." Elise replied. "When I am not busy!"

Tony walked to his desk, with a sigh. _"What's upsetting her?" _

**TBC**

**A/N Big thanks to Smush68 and all of you other wonderful people! But, big one to Smuh68 for being there on private message for conversations and giving me a kick now and then. **


	24. Chapter 23

**a/n Word of warning, there is some bad language in this and if you're sensitive to it (Not being cheeky) I am sorry but I've warned you and please don't hate me and if you think the rating should go up because of it let me know. I value my reader's opinion! I want you all to know that.**

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise made her way upstairs to her apartment, slowly, despondently and exhausted. She was about to put the key in the lock to her apartment, but she realised it was open. With a deep breath she opened the door and saw Nathan sitting on her sofa reading a magazine about recent movies.

"Lot of shitty movies out at the moment isn't there?" he asked. "You have a lot of them ticked."

"Ones, that Tony and I went to see and that magazine is three months old."

"Oh. I wouldn't know." he replied bitterly.

Elise shut the door and sat her bag on the table, before removing a pile of paper work. "Why not?!" Nathan suddenly cried.

"Because, I don't feel ready to move in with you."

"OK. I get that, but why?" he replied.

Elise turned around to him. "I can't explain it."

"I don't get where we stand. I thought things were going well but we're shouting at each other every other day. That's if we see each other. At least if we lived together we would see each other."

"I can't move in with you just now. I don't have the time or…"

"If you're afraid it might lead to sex then I understand…"

"Woah, back off! Why is it every time there is a problem in our relationship it's because we haven't consummated it yet? Are you really that much of a jack ass?!"

"Why is it every time there is a problem you have to be a bitch an ignore it?"

"Oh so I'm a bitch, now?!"

Elise's cell suddenly rang. "Don't you dare pick that up! We're talking."

"No we're arguing and shouting and it's my dad's personalised ringtone."

Elise answered it. "Hey dad…"

She suddenly put the phone down without letting him finish his reply. "I need to go!"

"Don't you dare go, we've not finished talking."

"Later." Elise replied.

"Fine, I don't care anymore. Be a fucking bitch all your life!"

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

**Moments earlier.**

Gibbs had just gotten the hospital. Tony had been shot at, when they had been on a raid. Luckily it had barely touched him because of his vest. But his ribs were still bruised, and he'd dislocated his shoulder in the fight. As the doctor was putting his shoulder back in place, Gibbs thought he was the best person to break the news to Elise. He knew that Elise and Tony were tighter than blood, despite being totally unaware of the infatuation between the two, and he felt that she would be better finding out from him.

So he dialled her cell and when she answered, it was with a flustered "Hey dad."

"Sweetie, I'm at the hospital with DiNozzo. We were on a raid and he was shot at…Kelly…"

He couldn't hear his daughter, anymore but he did hear the shouting going on and he gritted his teeth. If Elise was not coming over to the hospital he'd have went over there.

She appeared half an hour later. "Where is he? Is he OK?" she asked worried.

"He's OK. You didn't let me finish. Just some bruising to his ribs, the vest protected him and he's probably got his shoulder back in place too."

Elise went to walk on but Gibbs touched her shoulder gently. "What gives him the right to shout at you like that and call you a bitch?"

Elise swallowed and became aware that her phone had not disconnected from the call with her father quick enough. She knew Gibbs wasn't happy. He was old fashioned and chivalrous and did not like men swearing at a woman the way Nathan had done. But the last thing, Elise wanted was Gibbs to know.

"I want to see, Tony. I'll take him for pizza. He likes pizza." Elise replied flustered before walking into Tony's room to find Ziva there, and McGee.

"Giblet!" he smiled.

"Are you, alright?"

"It was nothing." Tony replied. "You know me, I just get on with it. It's my job. Very special agent Anthony DiNozzo…"

He stopped as he saw a tear roll down Elise's cheek. "I am so glad you're OK. I just…I rushed out and I thought that it was worse than it was…not that this isn't bad…Are you allowed to leave?...I feel like a total bitch because of the way I treated you…"

"Don't say that." Tony spoke. "Don't ever call yourself that."

It was almost as if McGee and Ziva were not in the room, and that Gibbs was not standing in the door way. Elise and Tony shared a look, and Elise felt a tightness in her chest, and so did Tony.

_"When did I fall in love my sister?" he thought. _

_"Why will you never notice I exist for more than a co-worker, a friend or a sister?"_

"Tony is getting let out." Ziva spoke, ending the silence and the long lasting glance being shared between Elise and Tony.

"You should come back to my apartment, Tony and I'll get you pizza and we can just chill and watch a movie."

"No, he's not. He's coming back to NCIS." Gibbs spoke. "We have a case to wrap up. You can come with me too."

"Then we'll get pizza?" Elise asked. "Because I am hungry and I imagine Tony is and everyone else. We could all get pizza together."

"Are you alright, Elise you looked messed up?" Tony asked.

Elise laughed. "Messed up…Good one!"

She suddenly walked out and began making her way down the corridor. "What's the matter with, Giblet?" McGee asked.

"She seems uptight about something." Ziva spoke.

"Nothing, that I am not going to deal with." Gibbs muttered.

"What's going on boss?" Tony asked.

"I'll tell you in the car, DiNozzo. But first, I need to go speak to my daughter. You get sorted and meet me at the car in ten."

"On it, boss." Tony replied.

When Gibbs caught up with Elise, she was crying her heart out. Gibbs pulled her into a hug, with knowledge that he would not get anything from her by speaking to her at that moment.

"He's OK. Tony is fine. He's fine and you're going to be fine too, when I find that Smith!"

"No." cried Elise.

Gibbs nodded, but it wasn't finished. He would deal with the situation. The schedule for it had just been postponed.

When they got back to NCIS, Gibbs went down to interrogation to the only living suspect. Gibbs had shot the one who had fired at his agent. While Gibbs was down there, Tony was drawing glances to Elise who was trying to dial a number on her cell. Eventually someone must have answered because she began walking away.

"Nathan, it's me." Elise spoke.

"Look, whatever it is it was obviously important because you rushed out." he replied disdainfully. "I get it…you don't care…"

"It's not that I don't care…I got a phone call from my dad. Tony had been shot at but…"

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realise!" he replied mockingly. "I might have known you'd run out of there for him!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Elise asked, as she made her way to the stairs, for privacy.

"You tell me. You spend an awful lot of time with him! Every time I come to your apartment he's either there watching a movie with your or you're on the phone planning to go and see a movie!"

"Because you don't like movies and I don't like watching them alone!"

"Oh, I might have known you'd cast that up…"

"Shut up!" Elise spoke. "Just shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up! As I said always a bitch! That's all you're ever going to be, Elise. A bitch in khaki!"

"I can't do this anymore. We're obviously too incompatible. We're done! Finished! Over. Goodbye, Nathan."

She ended the call before he could reply and burst into tears. Before she knew it someone had their arms wrapped around her and she was crying into their chest and they were stroking her hair.

"Alright, I want his name, address and the code to switch off the security cameras." came Tony's voice. The goofiness of it made her laugh, as well as cry.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

The team, and Elise sat in the Pizza restaurant eating, when Gibbs finally asked. "Will he be there when I take you back home?"

He still didn't know and Tony didn't feel that it was his place to tell him. But he wasn't going to let, Elise get back together with Nathan. Not just because he felt that Nathan was ruining his chances – if Tony was willing to risk it that is – with Elise but because he had upset her so much that she'd been crying herself to sleep every night for the past month and that made him angry.

"He's not going to be there again. We're done. I told him that."

"What's going on?" Ziva asked.

"I am going to go for a walk." Elise announced. She got up and walked away and not even Gibbs saw her for the next few days.

On, Christmas Eve Elise walked the non-snow filled streets of Washington D.C. It didn't look like it was going to snow. Luckily enough she had managed to do her Christmas shopping and she was free to spend some time on her own. It was better when she was on her own. She had no worries and at that thought the realisation that it was only a year ago that she had been captured and tortured for a second time before finding out that Gibbs was her father struck her like a bolt of lightning.

It began to rain and she sighed. _"Not going to be a white Christmas." _ she thought as she made her way onwards. She suddenly came across a swing park, not far from her apartment. She had walked by it so many times and had never paid attention to it.

She walked over to the swings and sat down on one of them. She didn't swing she just sat and thought, and swayed. The rain was pouring heavy but she didn't care. She didn't even regret not wearing a jacket. She was becoming numb to the cold again. She refused to be aware of feelings and pain – it hurt far too much to try.

She sat out there for two hours before she began to shiver and it was at that point, someone came up behind her and put their jacket around her.

TBC

**a/n I wonder who that was! Could it be Nathan, come to apologise and beg for another chance? **

**Anyway, big thanks to every one of you! : ) and to Smush68 for the advice. : ) **


	25. Chapter 24

When the jacket was wrapped around her, she still did not look around. Then came the voice of the owner of the jacket. "Elise, you need to go inside before you get pneumonia or something."

"I am fine. Everything is fine. It's not that cold. Not that cold at all." she replied with chattering teeth.

"Come one, Elise. Everyone is worried. I'm worried. You don't want to be sick over Christmas do you?"

" I'm fine. Really, Tony I'm fine. You go home and watch a nice Christmas movie, and I'll just sit here. I'm not ready to go home yet."

"Look, I'm not going until you get out of the rain and into a warm apartment."

She remained silent and the next thing she knew Tony was pulling her up. She didn't fight or struggle; instead she just rested her head on his shoulder as he walked her to his car and then from there into her apartment. She felt guilty because Tony was now wet with the rain.

"I'll make you some coffee, while you go get into some dry clothes and make sure they are pretty. I have a Christmas party for us all to go to. I was invited by my father. He says he might come."

_"Might being the correct word." thought Elise. _

"Oh." nodded Elise. "You know I don't really like parties, Tony."

"Nonsense, go get ready." he replied, practically half steering, half pushing her, like a heavy bookcase to her bedroom door. Saying no would not be an option.

As soon as he heard the sound of the water running from her en –suit bathroom he opened one of her kitchen cupboards and removed the coffee. Inside he found a package. Curiosity got the better of him and opened it. He found a letter and a key.

**"Elise, I am sorry I shouted at you the way I did. I really am. I have just been so stressed lately. It's Christmas Eve, and I'm worried about you. I came over but you weren't there, so I let myself in and left this note here for with the coffee. I know how much you like the stuff. I'm sorry I said what I said, and if you're not ready to move in with me then that's fine. But, please don't end it this way. I do love you, Elise. You're great. I'm sorry I accused you of liking, Tony as more than just a friend. And I'm sorry for calling you a bitch in khaki."**

Inside the envelope he found a key that he obviously assumed to have been a key Elise had given Nathan to let himself in. He swallowed and felt angry at what Nathan had called Elise. He put the letter in his pocket and closed the cupboard before making Elise's coffee.

When she came out of the room he half expected her idea of pretty to be denims and a shirt, which she did look gorgeous in, in Tony's eyes, but when she came out she was wearing silver dress with sequins and she looked very pretty. Tony smiled and she drew him a look.

"Shut up!" she replied.

"When were you a girl?" he asked.

She laughed, feeling better that she was now warm.

"I'm sorry that you got soaked." Elise apologised.

"It's fine, my suit has dried up now." Tony replied.

Elise drank her coffee, and then sighed.

"So, we should probably be going now, before all the good food is taking." Tony said, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah, let's go. If dad and Ziva, and McGee are going to be there…Abby too. Ducky and Jimmy. Yeah."

On the car drive there the two remained silent. Then Tony broke it.

"I hope you don't mind me asking but I was wondering what was the cause of the problem in your relationship with, Nathan?"

"A lot of things. He wanted me to move in with him and I didn't feel like it was the time. I mean I did everything he wanted, but it was like he didn't care about me, really. One or two movies now and then despite him not liking them, was not going to hurt. So it scared me a little. I mean things were good to start off with but they went downhill and then we were fighting all the time and I didn't know what to do because…because he used to be my friend and I was confused."

"Was there anything else?" Tony asked.

"He was under the impression that…we were seeing each other behind his back."

Tony laughed, trying to act as he would if he was just finding out. "Really? That's nonsense!"

"Yeah the idea is totally ridiculous." feigned Elise.

"Someone's a fry short of a happy meal, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Elise laughed nervously.

When they got to the hotel where the party was being held, Gibbs was waiting outside the door. He breathed a sigh of relief when, she came walking up to him with Tony. She had not answered any of his calls for days, and had not come into work.

"I'm not dead." she said with fake glee.

"Then why weren't you answering your cell. Never be unreachable."

"It's not that I wasn't unreachable I just refused to answer my phone." said Elise, bluntly

"Boss, can I talk to you a second?" asked Tony.

"Go inside, Elise." Gibbs ordered. "Get something to eat."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS ** **NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Gibbs looked at the letter, Tony had in his hands. "Should I show it to her, Boss?"

Gibbs sighed. If Elise found out about the letter being hidden from her she would take umbrage to it on a matter of pride. She always liked to be independent. Even when she had been shot, she refused to let it weigh her down too much.

"What do you think, DiNozzo?"

"I think that if we were to hide it from her then she'd be mad at us. If we showed it to her and she was still in love with and she gave him another chance, he could shout at her and make her life a misery, but if it ended in her being happy then I wouldn't care because I love her. All I want is for her to be happy."

Gibbs looked at Tony questioningly and from the pained look on his face he could see that Tony's love for the Giblet was more than just a sibling or friendship kind of love.

"Is my dad there?" Tony asked when the silence was not broken by Gibbs.

"I don't think he's coming." Gibbs replied.

Tony nodded. He guessed that his dad wouldn't show. He had to tell Gibbs, that he loved Kelly. He couldn't tell his own dad because he wasn't there. McGee would probably write it in his new book where Tommy and Lisa split up and he'd start dating something unrelated to Elise or Kelly and Gibbs would end up finding out that way. Ziva would not understand, and Abby would be enthusiastic with her opinion that everyone would know, be it a positive or a negative one.

_"Let's face it. Gibbs is my dad!"_

"How long?" Gibbs asked.

"Since, I met her at Rhode Island."

Gibbs sighed. How was he meant to react to this? He took the letter from, Tony. "I'll take it back and put it next to her coffee. Tell her I'm away to double check something back at NCIS. She can find this herself."

"Aren't you going to head slap me, Boss?" Tony asked.

Gibbs frowned for a moment in thought, before turning around and walking away. Could he really head slap Tony for being in love with his boss' daughter who he met when she was under foster care, and who had given her something to smile about when she was younger?

_"Rule twelve. Never date a co-worker." Gibbs thought. _

He turned around once more and walked on to his car.

**TBC**

**A/N Big thanks to ya all! :) And Smush68 again! **


	26. Chapter 25

When Elise finally got home that night, she made her way to her room and lay down on her bed, hugging the pillow, without even getting changed into her pyjamas. Before she knew it, it was morning and she was waking up to her cell phone ringing.

She picked the cell up and saw it was Nathan calling her. She swallowed and pressed ignore, before standing up and making her way out of her room and to the kitchen. She opened the cupboard door for the jar of coffee and saw the package. She blinked and took it out with no thoughts to Tony having opened it. He could after all have just ignored it.

She read the letter inside and sighed before taking her key and putting it in her pyjama pocket. Then there was a knock at the door. She sighed and put the jar back in the cupboard, telling herself she'd make her coffee later.

She opened it quickly half expecting it to be Gibbs or Tony, very ready to tell them she was just up and to give her time to adjust to daylight, when she realised it wasn't Gibbs, or Tony.

"What are you doing here, Nathan?" asked Elise.

"You ended it on the phone, rather than talking to me." he said calmly. Elise blinked and went to close the door, but he stopped it from closing.

Elise sighed. "Maybe I did not talk to you because you were shouting at me every two minutes."

"Because you were being pretty…" he began, tempted to say pompous but decided not to. "You were being quite uptight."

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't but either way I can't go on arguing with someone anymore, Nathan. I really can't. I had someone shout at me a long, long time ago and it was horrible, aggressive and terrifying and I could not cope and it made me cold. Now, I am more like a human being and it's even more terrifying, Nathan and I am not going to stand by and let myself get treated like that. I said, goodbye. I mean it. It's over."

"But, Elise you know I've always liked you…"

She grabbed her coat, from its hook on the door, and slipped her trainers on before barging past him, before locking the door. She didn't care, she was in her pyjamas, and barefoot in her trainers. She couldn't be bothered with standing there trying to ignore Nathan.

"You can't leave like that!" Nathan called.

When she got to Gibbs' house she found Jackson was there. "Grandpa." smiled Elise. "He never said you were coming. Is this my Christmas present?"

Jackson hugged, Elise and smiled. "What are you doing in your pyjamas?"

"Adding to the Christmas spirit."

"Dad, what are you doing?" asked Gibbs, coming out into the hallway. "Kelly?"

"No I am her evil twin and I've killed her." Elise replied, jokingly.

"I told you to sleep in for a while. Thought you were a bit too old for the Christmas excitement."

"I guess I just wanted to get away from persistent carollers."

"Carollers, at this time?"

"Yeah. They can be persistent" Elise lied. "Have I still got clothes upstairs?"

"Yeah." Gibbs replied.

Elise jogged upstairs, with Gibbs confused.

"She looks a lot happier than the last time I saw her." Jackson said.

"Should have seen her a few days ago." Gibbs remarked.

"What?" Jackson asked.

"Nothing." Gibbs replied.

Elise came down a while later to find Gibbs and Jackson arguing. "Hello, children!" Elise spoke.

"So why did you really leave your apartment in nothing but your pyjamas?" Gibbs asked.

"I had a coat and sneakers on." Elise replied before sneezing. "And I got the cold from being on the swings in the rain."

"You let her out in the rain, Leroy?" asked Jackson.

Gibbs opened his mouth to speak, but Elise interrupted. "I am an adult and I chose to go on them on my own because I like swings and the rain doesn't bother me."

Gibbs could see that Elise really very happy. Too happy and that was the problem. He loved it when she was happy but he hated it when she was forcing it, so much that it was all just an act.

Elise's phone started ringing and she took it out of jeans pocket to see that Nathan was calling her. She ignored it and put it in her pocket.

"Someone you not wanting to talk to?" Gibbs asked.

"No one at all, gunny." Elise replied. "I think I'll go downstairs to the basement…or is that where all the presents are hidden?"

Later when Tony came over, after an invite from Gibbs, due to Tony ending up alone for Christmas, the senior field agent was asked to check Elise's missed calls for Gibbs, while she was talking to Jackson about a movie, which Tony was so desperate to join in on the discussion about.

As Tony began to look through the calls, he looked over to Elise and didn't stop until he felt a sharp head slap on the back of his head. Gibbs didn't say anything, though but Tony could tell he ought to stop and continue with what he was doing.

"She's had a call from him."

"And she's been ignoring him. Do you think he does anything at Christmas?"

"I don't know what he does for quiet time, never mind Christmas." Tony replied.

Gibbs removed his own mobile. "I'm going to make a phone call. I wonder what Tobias is doing."

He left the house and went outside.

"So Cassie gets hurt by a grapple hook when he swims over to the submarine…"

Tony walked over and put an arm around Elise while she was talking, stopping her for a moment. "Don't let me interrupt, but I do believe that you're talking about one of Steven Segal's movies. Under Siege."

"Yes I am." Elise replied.

So Tony joined in very animatedly about the movie with Elise and Jackson smiled because Elise was happier than she had been when he'd seen her before. Gibbs walked in and saw that the smile she had while talking with Tony was real and not over emphasised.

She began laughing as she rested her head on his shoulder. Gibbs was beginning to wonder if Elise, liked Tony the way Tony liked her. What was he going to do?

He sighed, deciding to focus on his original plan.

He walked downstairs to his basement and dialled a number he'd gotten from, Tobias. "Hello agent Smith is it?" he asked as soon as he heard the phone getting picked up on the other side.

"Yeah." answered Nathan.

"It's Kelly's father."

"Oh."

"It's over, Smith. Get it into your head. The only reason you're still walking is because it's Christmas and I understand Tobias needs you. You come near my daughter, call her a bitch again, or a bitch in khaki and I'll make your complexion turn that colour."

He ended the call and made his way upstairs. The subject of Elise's conversation had turned to Lethal Weapon, her favourite movies.

"It's so funny when Butters and Leo go on about the cell phones." Elise said.

"I know because you've told me like a million times…" Tony began, Elise's face falling into an apologetic look.

"But it doesn't lose its truth!" Tony finished

"Are you trying to make me have a heart attack, Tony?"

"Would I do that to you?" Tony asked.

"I hope not."

"Never! I get to get in cheaper to the cinema with you around. It's great. It's always better to go with another person."

"And here I thought it was because you were a nice person, Tony when all along it was a scheme to save money." Elise said dramatically.

"Indeed, it is a benefit but it's also fun on an emotion principal that I can talk to someone about it, and they'll understand me."

"Tony, no one understands you. You're too bizarre."

Gibbs and Jackson both shook their heads at the same time.

TBC

**a/n thank you so much everybody. Again to Smush68 as well for being so nice to me!**


	27. Chapter 26

Both Elise and Gibbs' teams were busy for the New Year. As well as finishing off mountains of paper work, several cases had turned up, and Cecelia was finally made a Special Agent.

Tony tried to forget his feelings for Elise over that time, and Elise was doing the same for him. They both knew it to be impossible to be together and it didn't help, Tony that he'd told Gibbs how he felt as well. So he stopped asking her to the movies as much and waited until she asked him. But she was not asking him as much lately, and they hid between the excuses to themselves that they had too much work to do.

And all of the teams, and their members had several brushes with death. A bomb went off in a car at a crime scene, almost killing Cecelia, who was saved by, Elise. Tony got shot at, again, and Ziva had several rouge Marines, try to drown her – big mistake of theirs though – and McGee nearly got hit by a car, Elise was almost stabbed in an alleyway, only to deal with the attacker herself, and Gibbs was almost suffocated but saved by, Tony.

All that happened in matter of three months. They were into March, and it was hitting spring.

"There is my report." Cecelia spoke.

"Thanks." Elise replied.

At the end of the fourteenth day of match, everything seemed to get repetitive for, Elise. She sighed and stood up to go home for the day, when she saw Tony working away on paper work at his desk. Everyone else had left. She walked over to the other bullpen and said "hi."

"Hey." Tony replied.

"I was wondering, if you wanted to go see a movie, just to get away from the paperwork."

"I can't, Giblet. I am sorry."

"OK." Elise replied faking a smile. It was the fourteenth time he'd declined going to see a movie and Elise was beginning to wonder if Tony was sick of her and that was cramping his style. So she left, it and never asked.

_"I need to stop, spending time with her. It'll only break my heart." Tony thought. "I need to move on. I need to." he thought as soon as Elise made her way to the elevator. _

Elise entered the elevator and nodded to herself. _"I need to stop spending time with him as much .We're friends and nothing more. He's friends, with Abby and Ziva and he doesn't like them as more than that. He doesn't like you and that is that. Move on, Elise! Move on!"_

It reached April and Elise decided that she was beginning to get severely lonely. Even Gibbs was too busy – although it was not on purpose. Elise was beginning to wonder if she just had something that said, 'run away' on her forehead. She had never craved friendship or company before, but now it was almost as if she needed it badly.

It was almost as if she was just growing up, emotionally which was something Ducky had mentioned to Gibbs the previous year when Elise had been kidnapped and tortured.

It was soon the twentieth of April – how time flies – and Elise had finished all her paperwork and was beginning to become very bored. As she browsed the internet, shopping for a present for Tony's upcoming birthday and suddenly an advert for a dating site, appeared. She was about to ignore it but she read the caption.

**"If you're lonely, need a friend as well as lover, then you've come to the right place. It's just a click away."**

She looked around almost as if she was doing something shady but no one was looking. Gibbs was writing away, drinking coffee now and then, Ziva was typing, as was Tony and as was McGee. She smiled and turned back to the computer screen.

She clicked on the ad and it took her to the page. She had to fill out a pen name. Now that was a tough thing to do. She saw a fountain pen on her desk, that she'd gotten from Ziva for Christmas.

"Bound to be the lamest pen name ever but OK." she muttered to herself.

She typed 'FountainPen' into her the box and continued onwards to fill out her interests and hobbies.

She had only been on the thing officially as a member for a few minutes when suddenly a box appeared for instant messaging and someone was chatting to her.

**"Hey" **wrote someone called 'LethalWeapon'

**"Hi." **she replied, typing hesitantly.

**"Wow, someone who hasn't disconnected. It would be embarrassing if my co-workers knew about all those disconnections I've been getting."**

**"Why, are they doing that?" **

**"I have no idea. I mean I'm amazing."**

Elise smiled. There was something about this person's personality, being reflected in that one sentence that reminded her of someone. She didn't know what or who but she was going to keep talking to find out.

**"I am sure you are, but no one can know properly for sure, until they have had more conversations with you."**

**"You remind me of someone, can't quite place it though."**

**"You remind me of someone too! Lol."**

**"Why did you join this dating site?"**

**"Because I am lonely, and I have only had one real boyfriend in my life, I'm approaching 29 and I guess hanging around with family gets boring after a while. Or they get bored of me. Not that I have that much family. Just about eight."**

**"I only have my dad, who is always busy and few cousins in England. Although, I do have sort of a family…It's complicated."**

**"England? That sounds great! My family is complicated too!"**

**"Not really my cousin is a little bit of an idiot and maybe everyone's is."**

**"Sorry to hear that. Some people just need to go spit."**

**"Do you know that that reminds me of Lethal Weapon!"**

**"No way! I love those films."**

**"Really? Oh that's awesome. I love them too! Hence my pen name. I like lots of movies though."**

**"I do too. I quite like, action movies. Not into musicals mind you. And, I thought that was just a random name, to suggest you were dangerous."**

**"Same here! And, I'm not dangerous! I promise."**

She began talking to him about a whole variety of films and was actually enjoying it.

**"I have to go, now. But if you want, I'll meet you on here later, tonight. When would be convenient if you did?"**

**"I would like that. I have to go too. How about twenty one hundred hours?" she asked. **

**"Cool."**

Elise got her stuff, sorted and made her way out. Tony for someone reason looked happy on his way to his car. She waved but he didn't notice her. _"OK, the last time I checked we were still friends!" she thought. _

When she got home, she paced up and down, for hours talking to herself and planning on what to talk about with her new pen friend. When it was twenty one hundred hours she made her way to her laptop and began typing into it as soon as she saw her new 'friend' online.

**"Hi, nice to see you on the website again!" **

**"Like a cool person like you doesn't have anyone to talk to!"**

**"I am not cool and I don't have anyone to talk to! That's why I' m on here silly!"**

**"Oh. We should meet up sometime."**

**"Yeah we should."**

**"I'll get to know you first, though."**

**"Yeah."**

**"So, do you work?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"Same, here. Been not too bad lately although it would be good if I got some more work in."**

**"I totally have the same problem, but then it leads to a lot of other work which is tiring."**

**"Same, problem!"**

**"Why is a cool guy like you on this website?"**

**"To be honest?"**

**"Yes, it's the best way."**

**"I really liked this girl, maybe I still like her but she'd never like me, ever! I need to get over her. I need to find someone."**

**"I see." replied, Elise, understanding perfectly. **

**"So, what's your favourite thing to drink?" **

**"Well, I like coffee, but if it's too warm I might drink Caf-Pow. I need caffeine to get me through the day. By the way that was a random question. Let's actually play a game. Random question. I am bored!"**

**"Me too! You ask me one!"**

**"What do you think of Ferrari's?"**

**"My dream car."**

**"Mine too!" Elise replied. **

**"A girl who likes cars? Wow, will you marry me?" **

**"I would but I can't afford to buy you it handsome!"**

**"Handsome? You've not seen me…but accurate accusation!"**

**"Well, I just know you are handsome. Your personality it great, which means you are!"**

**"You remind me of someone."**

**"You too!"**

They talked for hours, and it was past midnight. They said goodnight eventually and went off to sleep. But Elise felt conflicted. She was still in love with Tony deep down, and she felt wrong inside.

_"But it's not as if this person and I are in a relationship. At the moment we're just pen pals."_

**_TBC_**

**_a/n Big thanks to Smush68 : )_**

**_and to all of you! : ) It's just Smush68 keeps on pushing me to write, inspiring me, helping me… This story would not be hear without her! Go and read hers!_**


	28. Chapter 27

Work went on as normal the next day, and it did for the next three after that. The MCRT had a case, though and they went away with Cecelia complaining upon their absence from the room that it was time her and Elise had a new case, rather than looking into cold cases when a new lead occurred, or doing tons of paper work to follow.

But at the end of the day, 'LethalWeapon' had sent her an email of some sort. Be it an instant message or a regular email because he couldn't do instant chat. Five days, and already they were like best friends. There was something about her new pen pal that was very familiar but she couldn't place it. Thinking about Lethal Weapon in movie terms, she suddenly realised she had not seen it in a long, long time. But she hated watching movies on her own. It wasn't the same, as watching it with someone that you were close to…Someone like Tony?

Elise sighed and felt something punch her in the heart. Tony had not spoken to her, in ages. It was as if he was ignoring and she did not know what for and another two days passed before she decided that she was going to ignore him, if he talked to her.

It soon came to a day before Tony's birthday and Elise realised that she had not got him a present, and despite ignoring him at the moment, it would not be nice of her to leave him out. So she stayed up all night, while talking to 'LethalWeapon' while drawing up a whole sketchbook of Tony standing next to every model of Ferrari ever made.

Before she knew it, it was six am and she had only just finished.

**"We've been up quite late." **said 'LethalWeapon'

**"Don't you mean early?"**

**"Yes, good one. You really do remind me of someone. Heh. I better get going now. I'll see you later. I have to go get ready for work."**

**"Me too. Thanks for talking to me. I've been lonely lately and I feel as if one person in particular hates me and it just means a lot to have someone to talk to."**

**"I'm sorry to hear that. We should meet up soon. Maybe at the weekend?"**

**"I'd like that."**

**"Good. Sorted. Really got to go now. Good night, morning whatever you want to call it."**

**"Bye." Elise replied. **

She got showered and changed into clean clothes, before putting on some make up to cover up the bags under her eyes. She rarely ever wore it, but today she really needed it. It was mild and she doubted anyone would notice it. She went to NCIS early to put her present for Tony on the desk. She didn't label that it was her but she knew he'd get the idea. An hour later he came in earning happy birthday from Abby, Ziva and McGee. He opened all their presents and immediately ignored what she left him, just putting it away in the drawer without so much as a second glance.

Feeling hurt and upset she walked to the elevator, tears falling down her face. She thought that it would be empty but Gibbs was there and they exchanged glances. Before Gibbs could speak she turned the other way and headed for the stairs, before sprinting down them. She didn't want to have to explain why she had been so upset.

"Haven't you all got paper work to do?" Gibbs asked his team as soon as he hit the bullpen. "After all we did just finish a case!"

"On it, boss." replied Tony and McGee in unison.

Ziva never spoke but went to her desk anyway.

Later on that night

Gibbs told Elise to come and help him with something in the basement but when she got there was nothing for her to help him with. "Everything is fine down here." she stated, confused.

"No it's not. Why were you crying this morning?"

"No reason." Elise replied.

"There has to be a reason. Why are you not, at Tony's party?"

"Because you asked me to come here."

"Right, but it's not for an hour. Why aren't you ready for his party?"

"Because I was not invited. He asked, Ziva, and Abby, and McGee and his friends and you but not me. He doesn't even like me anymore. I mean…We were…He doesn't talk to me anymore and it hurts…It really hurts."

Gibbs looked at, Elise who was obviously in emotional pain.

"No one gets me the way Tony does. We were meant to be tighter than blood, but all of a sudden it's like I'm nothing to him. I am in love with and he'll never notice me ever!"

Gibbs' eyes widened.

"He didn't even look at the sketchbook I put on his desk, with the bow on it. I was up all night, making that for him and the least he could do was to act like he gave a shit, but no! And now I am going to go because I've said too much."

"Tell him how you feel."

"I can't!"

"Why not?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"Because I just can't." Elise replied. "I have to go."

She ran up the basement stairs before Gibbs could stop. Well Gibbs was going to Tony's party. After all he had not given his senior filed agent the present he deserved most; a very painful head slap.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

It was early in the hours of the morning when Elise's laptop pinged. She was dozing off at the table and she woke up with a start. It was 'LethalWeapon'

**"Meet me at Diamond Serpent Night Club, tomorrow at seven, if you want to meet. I can't wait to finally see you. Have to go I'm exhausted. Good night." **

**"Good night." **Elise replied.

She made her way to her bed afterwards and lay down. _"I don't need, Tony. He just breaks my heart all the time and even if he tries and talks to me, I will so not talk to him. Ever! Never, ever, ever!"_

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise was excited the whole day at work, and she assumed that was what had attracted Tony's attention. "Hey how are you? Didn't see you last night." Tony spoke, remembering the solid hard head slap he had got. Gibbs had explained how Elise had felt a little hurt because of the present. He never mentioned that she was in love with him, though.

"I was not invited."

"I assumed you'd come."

"Well perhaps you shouldn't assume!"

"I'm sorry. I looked at the sketchbook. It was awesome. I didn't open it yesterday because I wanted to open it in my own time."

"Tony, I'm busy will you just go!"

Tony walked over to his desk with a heavy sigh.

TBC

**a/n the usual big thank you to you all and to Smush68. **


	29. Chapter 28

Tony tried all day to talk Elise: he tried speaking to her in the break-room; at the coffee shop; he even followed her into the toilets and she still ignored him – and he earned a lot of humiliation; and his last failed attempt was in the elevator on the way to the ground floor.

"Elise, just talk to me." he begged, freezing the elevator. "I have not got time to grovel!"

She ignored him, and shut him out completely. She didn't have time either, she had to meet 'LethalWeapon' and she was going to have to spend a good while looking through boxes of her 'girl clothes' she had tucked away.

Tony looked at her, she was staring right at him, or right through him was more what it seemed, and she had no emotion on her face at all. "I'm sorry. Please don't hate me, Elise. She felt his hands on her shoulders, but she still remained looking on, without anything written on her face. He had no choice but to stop trying and start the elevator.

Elise made her way to her car, and Tony watched. He sighed and went to his, and back to his apartment, where he went straight to his laptop. He had recently went on a dating sight, where you could meet new people, who's only names were there pen names. He checked his messages. No new ones from the pen pal who was called 'FountainPen'.

She really reminded him of someone, but it was hard to place it. But, he was feeling extremely guilty. He was meant to be meeting this person and he still had strong feelings for, Elise. He sighed. _"What am I gonna do?" _

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise finally just chose at random what she was going to wear, an LBD and a pair of matching shoes. She sat them on the bed before going in the shower and washing her hair. She let the cold water hit her face for a while, before letting it warm up. She couldn't stop thinking about how Tony had been so desperate in trying to apologise. _"Did he mean it? I don't care, though! The reason you are meeting this person tonight is because you need to move on. If Tony doesn't love you then you will not love him!"_

She slapped the back of her head and left the shower, to dry her hair. She waved it and then put on her dress and jewellery, before leaving the apartment, ready to go.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Tony made his way to his destination nervous. As he drove he couldn't stop thinking about how Elise had ignored him as if he never even existed. He had done that to her and he felt extremely guilty. But he realised that he was not going to get over her, and he should tell her. He was going to meet 'FountainPen' and apologise and explain. She seemed like an understanding person, who was very nice and he would probably like her upon meeting her, but he wanted Elise, and perhaps needed her.

He got out of the car and made his way into the club as soon as he got there. He walked over to the barman, and asked if a woman had been asking for a 'LethalWeapon' and he pointed in the direction of someone who had done so. He looked over and couldn't believe who he was seeing.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

Elise sat cradling a drink of bourbon in her hands as she waited on her pen pal to come. She had a sudden feeling that they were not going to show up. She heard footsteps suddenly in the break between music and she looked up see who it was, thinking it would be 'LethalWeapon' and instead she saw, Tony.

She swallowed.

"You're fountain pen?" he asked her surprised and hoping so very much that it was her and when he thought about it could only be her. The way she spoke to him, and her interests and hobbies were all Elise.

She was confused. How did Tony know her pen name? Then she swallowed as the thought that Tony could be Lethal Weapon rushed over her. It could only be Tony. It could not be anyone else. That was who he reminded her of.

"You're Lethal Weapon aren't you?" Elise asked.

"Yeah."

Tears formed in Elise's eyes and she grabbed her bag and began walking away. When she got outside she broke into a run to get to her car but fell. She was not used to walking in high heels, never mind running.

She felt someone help her up. "You OK?"

"NO! I AM NOT!" she yelled. "I am not OK at all."

"Why did you run away?" Tony asked.

"Because you were expecting someone else and…"

She suddenly began talking very quickly and he couldn't understand a word she was saying. "Elise I LOVE YOU!" Tony yelled at her. Perhaps if she had been quiet, it would have sounded more romantic but it was more of scream now because head to do so to get above her.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, not quite understanding it.

"I told you about a girl that I was trying to get over…that was you. I've been in love with you a long time. But I kept on having to stop myself from…from thinking about you because you're Gibbs' daughter, you had Nathan, you'd never like me and…but I love you."

"Me? You love me? YOU love ME?" she kept asking over and over.

"Yeah and…and if you could maybe one day feel the same way then could you tell me now and make this pain go away?"

"Your pain? I watched you flirt with Cecelia for quite a few months until she got a boyfriend and that was painful. You ignored me as if I was nothing to you and now you're standing there expecting me to tell you that I feel just a little tiny bit of affection for you so that you can make your pain go away?!"

"I am sorry, but I ignored you because I had to get over you and I couldn't it was too hard, Elise. I love you. I love you. I watched the way Nathan treated you and how you'd come in crying and I thought…if I was him I'd be spoiling you and loving you and…and I would not call you a bitch in khaki."

"How did you…" she began. _"He read the letter, didn't he? I don't care anymore."_

Elise walked in close to him and looked up to him. "You are tall. I never really noticed that before because usually when I'm this close it's because I'm crying and you're hugging me and I don't really look up at you."

He smiled. "Are you going to put me out of my misery?"

"Dance with me? In there?"

He smiled and she led him into the club again, holding his hand. She wasn't going to give him answer straight away. He had to suffer a bit more.

They danced until late at night, where they walked to their cars, exhausted. "You know what, it's the weekend. Let's just go back to my place and watch a movie. We'll take my car and we'll come back for yours tomorrow." Tony suggested.

"You want to watch a movie with me?"

"I know that in an hour's time The Maltese Falcon is coming on."

"What are we still standing here for then?"

When they got to Tony's apartment he switched the television on but it suddenly turned off, as did the lights and any other electronic that had to be plugged into the mains.

"What?" Tony asked, illuminating the living room with his phone light. Elise turned on her phone and walked to the balcony doors to look outside. "I think everyone is out. Must be a power cut."

"Damn it!" exclaimed Tony. "Maltese Falcon is one of my favourites."

"I'm sorry about that."

He got up and helped Elise find someone candles to illuminate the place up. "That's better." Tony spoke.

"I suppose." Elise replied.

He looked at her and she looked at him. Soon Tony began walking over to her. He rested his forehead on hers. "Any pain I've caused you, Elise I'm sorry. I'm an idiot and I love you!"

"Yes you are an idiot but you're really clever as well. It's not that bad and I love you too!"

She soon felt his lips touch hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck. As the kiss heated up Tony began leading her to his bedroom, where he stopped kissing her for a moment. "If you want me to stop…" he began. She shook her head, and he closed the door behind him.

TBC

**A/N Thank you everyone, so so so so much! :) **

**Big thanks to Smush68 and all of you. All of you! : ) Thank you. **


	30. Chapter 29

Gibbs heard footsteps make their way down his basement stairs. He looked up and saw Elise with her arms folded. She was staring at the floor, and she looked nervous about something.

"I was worried about you! I haven't heard from you for a day and there was the power cut last night..."

"Sorry about that." she said, still looking at the floor.

Gibbs looked at her, and noticed she was acting quite conspicuous. She never spent her time staring at the floor, it just wasn't like her.

"What did you do?" Gibbs asked.

"I never did anything!" said Elise, protesting to the idea.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"I do have something to tell you." she said after five long minutes of silence.

"Sweetie, you know you can tell me anything." Gibbs reminded her, seeing that she was nervous.

"Well only if you promise me that you will not kill me or the other person..."

Gibbs never replied.

"Tony and I are dating." she said quickly, wincing at the end of her statement.

"Rule 12, Kelly..."

"I know but he isn't on my team and hey I kind of crushed on him before NCIS and...and I don't care if you are not happy with it. But your blessing is welcome."

"Kelly...Never mind."

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

The next day at work Tony had unfortunately found himself in the elevator with Gibbs. Alone!

Gibbs froze the elevator and stood staring at Tony.

_"Looks like, Giblet didn't get him to sign a contract to say he won't hurt me." Tony thought._

Gibbs head slapped him harder than usual.

"I don't have to give you a warning on how to treat her. I know you'll treat her right. Because I know you know what would happen to you if you didn't."

He unfroze the elevator and let it go up.

"I also know that she is really happy now." Gibbs stated. "Keep her smiling."

"I will try." Tony replied.

And things continued on as normal after that, only Elise had gotten her prince who had saved her all those years ago.

When summer came it got very warm and one Saturday Tony took Elise for a picnic. That was when he asked her to marry him. It wasn't planned it just came out. She looked at him with her head tilted in a manner resembling a confused Labrador. He had said what he had said very quickly and she did not make out one word of it.

"Sorry honey could you repeat that?" she asked before drinking more of her champagne.

"I said could you pass the champagne bottle." he lied.

"Sure."

She handed it over to him and he felt sincerely stupid. Not only did he ask her to marry him without thinking about it; he had not even spoken properly.

Elise yawned suddenly and rested her head on Tony's shoulder.

"You should have gone to sleep earlier." quipped Tony.

"I don't recall you letting me."

Tony laughed. "But it was Clint Eastwood in Bloodwork I had to watch it. I told you to go to bed."

"But you should not have to watch a movie alone."

"You're too nice to me."

"I am aren't I?" she said, airily.

He kissed her forehead and he decided it was time to take her back home.

He did just that and that night he stayed awake, watching her sleep.

_"She looks peaceful asleep. At least I know when she is pretending to be asleep and when she really is."_ he thought with a smile. She ended up moving and putting her arm around him. He smiled and kissed her forehead and she cuddled into him.

Most women he had been with had just been disposable pleasures, but Elise was different. She was the one he fell in love with and he didn't want to let her go. He was about to once again try and get back to sleep when; Elise began shaking in her sleep. She woke up suddenly after it and began breathing heavily. Tony sat up and put his arms around her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Just a bad dream. I'm OK."

"What happened?"

"It was just a dream." she replied, remaining headstrong and independent as always.

"You can tell me, babe. Honestly."

"It doesn't matter I get them all the time…well not for a while. I'm fine." she replied.

"Tell me, though." he spoke, stroking her hair. She sat silent for a moment, and he kissed her neck.

"I was back to a year and half ago and I'm in that cell and no one's coming for me. Then Burley came along and…Sometimes it feels so real that this seems like a dream because I'm so happy just now. I mean…Would you really love me in reality?"

"Yes I would. And I **do**!"

They both fell asleep easily after that, but the next morning they were really both exhausted and they spent the morning pouring coffee. Tony was worried, Elise was looking a little depressed. It was the last thing he wanted. It didn't help that his phone suddenly rang. "Gibbs…Will be right there, boss."

Elise looked over and forced a smile. "Dead marine?"

"Sailor." Tony replied. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's your job. I'm an agent too!"

He walked over to her and kissed her. "I would rather be with you."

"Tony it's nice that you feel that way but let's be realistic. You loved your job before you loved me."

"Wrong!"

"How?"

"Loved you before I even grew up."

"When did you actually grow up?" she quipped.

"You're mean." Tony replied with a fake pout.

"I thought I was too nice to you."

"Yes you are!" he replied before quickly kissing her cheek. "I better go."

He left Elise's apartment and Elise sighed and flopped herself on to the couch. _"OK, Cecelia is right. We need a hot case. That's been six in two months, they've had!"_

She sighed and stared at the ceiling.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS**

The next day Elise made her way into work alone, and found that Ziva was sleeping on her desk, McGee was sleeping on his and Tony was reclining in his chair. Her dad wasn't there and she ended up shrugging it off. She walked to her desk, opened up her drawer and found a few packets of sugar. She emptied them into the cup of coffee and walked over to Tony's desk. She sat it down and woke up him up. "Hi."

He seemed surprised to see her and then he realised where he was and what day it was. "Hey, beautiful. At least I woke up to your face."

She pointed to the coffee. "Brought you some coffee."

"Aww, thanks. I need it!"

She walked back to her desk and Tony tossed a rolled up piece of paper, each, at McGee and Ziva to wake them up.

TBC

A/N The usual big thanks guys. : ) And to Smush68. Really go and check out her stories! Really good.


	31. Chapter 30

A month later

Elise's desk phone rang and she answered it. "Hello."

The man who spoke in reply has a mexican accent. "Hello are you a special Agent?" he asked.

"Yes this is special agent Kelly Gibbs. Can I help you?"

"I think you can. I have some information that I think would benefit your agency and I would prefer it so much if I could tell you in person rather than on the phone but If am to just walk into NCIS it could be compromising."

"Are you in any danger sir?" she asked

"Only if you bring someone with you...I will explain when we meet."

She sighed. "Where would you like to meet?"

"A diner not far from NCIS..." he began.

As soon as Cecelia saw her boss pick up her gun Cecelia went to do the same thing. "Not today Cecelia. See if you can trace that call for me though."

Gibbs' team made their way out of Vance's office and downstairs. They has just been giving a lecture on how they handled the sec nav's case that has been assigned to them.

"I am away for coffee." announced Tony in a grumpy mood.

He left leaving Ziva and McGee. Gibbs was still upstairs talking to Vance. And then Gibbs' desk phone rang and Ziva and McGee shared a look that said 'I am not picking that up' and then they looked for Tony before remembering he was away to get coffee. Oh how he picked his times and Elise was away or they would have asked her to answer it. Elise wasn't scared of her father.

"Isn't one of you going to get that?" asked Gibbs as he strolled in. He picked it up. "Hello..."

Gibbs' face turned to horror. It was a look his agents had never seen before and Ziva and McGee exchanged a look.

OooO

Elise made her way into the diner and sat down. "You have come Special Agent Bennet."

"Bennett? How..."

"Excuse me I am terrible with names." spoke her greeter once more.

Elise ordered coffee. "Where did you hear the name Bennet?"

"Oh I was looking for agent Bennet and then I found you. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." lied Elise. She had absolutely no trust in this man and she wanted to get out of there but she was doing her job by staying.

"You wanted my help?" she prompted.

"Yes I think you can be of valuable assistance to me."

"Assistance to you? I am not sure I follow."

"Oh you will eventually." he replied as he watched her take a large sip of her coffee.

"Who are you?"

"An old friend of your father's." he continued.

"Who are you?" she asked again as she took off her jacket and sat it beside her. It was getting too warm in the diner.

"Your body is interesting."

"Interesting?"

She took another sip of her coffee as she rolled her eyes. She was getting thirstier and thirstier and she was drinking more and more of it. The Mexican man was looking on with a smile.

"Sure it's sexy if you think I have insulted you but the way you hold it suggests a certain dominance. Almost as if you are ready to snap my neck at any moment or break off into interrogation mode."

She was suddenly aware of how everyone was leaving the diner. "Money is a curious thing Kelly Gibbs. It gets you what you want and certain people on your side. What's even more curious is the fact that you are still alive after all this time. You are partially the reason my father is dead. He killed him for you but I am not complaining that you're alive. Now I can get revenge. It's so so sweet."

She went to stand up but she felt extremely dizzy. She fell to the floor. "Come on we're going!" he shouted to his man in the corner. "If you struggle I mean it sincerely that I can and will make you suffer! I will make him suffer more than I planned to and I will make sure your boyfriend dies an excruciating death. I have been planning this since I heard all about you. I have had people watching you. Goodnight chicka!"

OooO

"What is it?" McGee asked as Gibbs slammed the phone down. "Alejandro Rivera has escaped federal custody."

Ziva and McGee exchanged a worried glance. "How?"

"He had inside men!" he shouted. "Cecelia!"

Cecelia looked up. "Yes?"

"Where is Kelly?!" he shouted.

"She had a call and then she ran out and she would not let me go but she took her gun with her and..."

"AND WHAT?!" he bawled.

"She told me to trace the call. I am working on it."

"McGee help her!"

"Gibbs..." began Ziva.

"Ziva, you find DiNozzo and then get my dad!"

She nodded.

"Get his gun for him."

Ziva went into Tony's drawer so quickly that she fully pulled it out.

"Get the gun and I will fix it!" he ordered.

When Ziva was gone Gibbs wandered over and saw a red box in among the mess and he found an engagement ring inside. Was that for his daughter? Did he really love her that much?

Needless to say Tony was in for a head slap.

Gibbs' phone rang and he answered it. "Hello."

"Come to Brenda's diner." the voice spoke.

OooO

Gibbs made his way inside and saw his daughter's coat on the chair. He picked it up with gloves on and a phone fell out. It looked as if it was recording. He pressed the stop recording button and put the phone in a plastic bag. He was glad common sense was there to help him at that time.

Then he did the same with her coffee cup. "If you have hurt her Alejandro then you are going to die!"

Gibbs knew it was him. On the table beside the one Elise was sitting at was a dead spider and a dead fly. He removed his mobile and called his dad to double check he was OK after the last five phone calls he had made.

TBC

A/n Sorry about long update wait. Plan on finishing this soon. Might be next weekend. Big thanks to all of your for sticking with me if you are still reading after that long update wait. Also big thanks to Smush68 for being there and talking to me.


	32. Chapter 31

Gibbs was like a bear with a sore head when he got back to NCIS. "The call came from a pay phone just outside his federal prison." spoke McGee without having to be asked.

"That was bold! Find out who was in charge of him, find out who visits him and bring in his inmates!"

He saw Vance waiting for him at the top of the stairs and he jogged up. "He wants his revenge and he is using your daughter." deduced Vance.

"Ya think?."

"Do what you have to do." spoke Vance.

* * *

Later that night

Kelly woke up lost in her surroundings. She was on some sort of boat from what she could gather. A door opened and she tried to get up but she was tied to something. She couldn't really see very well. She had blurred vision from concussion. Then she remembered something. She had woken up in a moving vehicle and she has attempted to fight but she was hit on the head by something heavy.

Now she woke up. Maybe not completely but she was semi aware of what was going on. She could have sworn her head was bleeding. She called out the first name that popped into her head. Perhaps someone was here looking for her. "Tony? Is that you?"

"Sorry chicka it's only me." she heard.

"Who are you?"

"No one of your concern, considering you will be dead soon. In exactly seventeen hours. Until then let's have a chat. How is your head? Sore? I guess I underestimated the marine in you."

She suddenly could see him as he brought his face up close to hers, trying to intimidate her. "You should know that my father's rule twenty three is to never mess with a marine's coffee if you want to live. You put some drug in my coffee. Counts as messing with it. "

"What you going to do about it?" asked Rivera.

She hit his head with hers and knocked him backwards. "Golly was there a lack of toothbrushes where you came from?"

Rivera felt his lip. It was bleeding. "How would you like to know that you are going to die and it's going to be your father that kills you?"

"Oh aren't you such a hoot?" said Kelly, laughing.

"It is not a joke."

"You do know that the moment you have gone I will get out of here. I don't give up!"

"Maybe but it will be difficult when you have a leg injury."

She suddenly felt blunt pain in her right leg. She cried out. He had shot her and the gun had a silencer. That told her they were close to somewhere public. But where was on her mind.

She heard the door close and she sighed. Before trying to shift at her chains. She wasn't getting any of her sight back at all. At that moment she felt vulnerable. Her eyes were everything to her and she felt weak without them. They were what judged her shots and what observed at crime scenes and even what let her see Tony's handsome smile.

When her thoughts turned to Tony began to cry. She loved him so much it hurt. Hurt more than the pain in her leg. She wanted so badly for Tony to find her, hold her and tell her everything would be okay. They could watch a movie if they wanted. As her thoughts turned to movies she thought of lethal weapon her favourite and she remembered how Riggs could dislocate his shoulder at will and how it made it easy for him to escape straight jackets and chains. She has dislocated her shoulder several times before. Surely she could do a Riggs and do it herself. She thanked Tony for creeping into her thoughts and giving her hope.

* * *

Tony pulled up outside Gibbs' house and found that Gibbs was there with two federal agents ready to supervise Jackson. Ziva took him inside and Gibbs pulled Tony aside.

"I saw it DiNozzo!" he said before head slapping him.

"Saw what?" Tony asked wincing.

"The ring. Why didn't you ask my permission?"

Tony's face fell when he realised what Gibbs was talking about. "I was going to ask but you were busy. Where is Giblet anyway?"

"He has her!" Gibbs said solemnly. "But I will find her! And I am never too busy to talk about my daughter's future! Never."

* * *

Kelly managed to get out of her chains a couple hours later. She popped her shoulder back in place and began feeling along the boats of the wall to figure out where she was going and of keep herself standing. Walking on the leg was excruciatingly painful. Now she really wanted Tony to hold her.

She fell and landed on the ground. "Impressive!" applauded Alejandro but you failed to notice the cameras. "Why would a trained investigator not notice?"

He pulled her hair and hauled her up. Before hitting her and letting her fall down. "Don't try and escape again or you will lose the love of your life. Now go to sleep and I will watch over you."

He grabbed her neck and squeezed on a pressure point, rendering her unconscious.

14 hours later

Vance was in M-TAC after being told he had an emergency call. But he came face to face with Rivera and not Sec Nav who he had been expecting to see. "I will be brief Leon. On a navy aircraft is valuable information concerning Sec Nav's business deal with Mossad. You do not want it in wrong hands. So I am giving you two hours to find and destroy it. I am playing a game. Oh and your agent will be left on my sinking ship to be rescued by her boyfriend or daddy or both. Good day."

The signal cut. "Bastard!" exclaimed Gibbs who had been hiding in the shadows where Rivera couldn't see him.

"We need to find this plane if it's the deal I know about...destroy it like he says. If that information goes into the wrong hands then.."

"I get the picture." replied Gibbs disdainfully.

* * *

Kelly woke up to perfect vision but also even more pain in her leg. She was on an naval aircraft. It was flying. She looked at the radar and saw something being picked up. "Shit!" she thought.

* * *

Gibbs saw the aircraft and spoke into an ear piece. "Fire at will." he said not thinking. He just wanted to save his daughter.

It blew up in smithereens and began floating down to the water. "You know what I kind of lied, Gibbs." a Mexican accent spoke. Before grabbing him.

The team turned around at the same time they did that to draw their guns but Gibbs' life was at stake and they knew better. "Drop them!"

"DiNozzo shoot him!" ordered Gibbs.

"I can see that your daughter gets her stubbornness from you or rather saw and got. That is right she was on the plane. You gave the order that killed her."

Tony raised his gun. He was as angry as Gibbs. "Looks like he is mad because I killed his chicka..."

"She is not a possession so she isn't mine!" Tony relied.

"Was not a possession and she wasn't mine." corrected Alejandro.

They heard a gunshot and saw crimson leak from Rivera's head. Gibbs felt his captor fall backwards. It would be a difficult shot for anyone to make and as much as he loved his senior field agent the shot was too accurate to be him. He looked around and saw a figure in the distance fall onto their knees. He broke off into a run. She was still alive. His girl had done it. She had survived once again. He threw his arms around her when he found her. He was so glad she was alive he felt like crying.

* * *

Despite advisement from the doctor Kelly went to work as normal the next day on paperwork. She had got her moment of Tony holding her when she was in the hospital and she told him about her Riggs moments and he said he was proud of her. She knew Gibbs and Tony were in Gibbs' office and she wondered why.

They were in there a while and people were complaining about the elevator not being in service and Kelly began to wonder if it had really broken down and she laughed but it soon opened up and Tony stepped outside and walked over to her. "Come on I will take us home."

"I am fine I don't..."

"I said us." replied Tony. He helped her up and supported her the whole journey to the car.

When they got to Tony's apartment which was home for that night they watched a movie and afterward he switched the tv off. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing. I just have to ask you something."

He removed the box from his suit jacket and opened it. "I would get down on one knew but I don't what you to get jealous."

Kelly burst into laughter.

"What?"

"You and your natural ability to make me laugh is funny."

"That makes no sense."

"I know."

"Will you marry me?"

"Well...it depends."

"On what?"

"On what you call quiet time?"

He rested her head on his shoulder. "This is quiet time." he said.

She laughed. "OK." she replied.

The End

A/n yay finally a happy ending! Big thanks all of you! Again thanks. Big thanks to Smush68 :) all of you thanks.


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